Turning Your Idea into Income by Creating Digital Products | Annetta Powell #social333podcast #70

Summary

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Social 333 Podcast with Chris D. Bentley

Episode 70: "Turning Your Idea into Income by Creating Digital Products" featuring Annetta Powell
Released: November 13, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this episode, host Chris D. Bentley sits down with entrepreneur and digital products expert Annetta Powell to break down the real, practical steps to turning your knowledge and skills into income through digital products. The conversation is candid, motivational, and full of actionable advice—whether you’re an entrepreneur, a 9-to-5er looking for a side hustle, or someone who doubts their skills are valuable. Annetta’s journey from real estate mogul, through incarceration, to thriving digital business owner serves as a backdrop for a deep dive into the transformative power of digital product creation in the age of AI.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Annetta’s Mission and What She Does

[01:31–01:57]

• Annetta helps people turn their knowledge into income by creating digital products.
• She stresses that everyone has something valuable in their head that can be monetized online.
  • “A lot of times people don’t realize that what they have is in their mind, they actually can make money online from it. So I teach people that.” — Annetta [01:41]

2. Creating and Selling Ebooks in the Age of AI

[02:55–04:16]

• Chris shares his own experience writing a short ebook for homebuyers and the “expert buzz” it created.
• Annetta reveals that creating an ebook is now easier with AI:
  • Use specific prompts in ChatGPT (e.g., “Write 10 chapters, 1,000 words each”) to generate content in minutes.
  • Customize or edit as needed, then format in Canva for a finished product.
  • “Now it’s the quick version, just the AI way. So you can create an ebook in like five minutes.” — Annetta [03:23–03:26]
• Comparison of old vs new methods: Chris spent a weekend, AI lets you do it in minutes.

3. Building Courses and Faceless Content

[04:16–05:37]

• Transition to online courses: Repurpose your ebook by prompting AI to turn chapters into course slides or modules instantly.
  • Example: “Create 42 slides for my online training course.”
• AI enables content creation with little technical effort and can even facilitate “faceless” YouTube channels.
  • “Now you got AI where you can literally, like, create content and you don’t have to do the work.” — Annetta [05:25]

4. The Power of Quality Prompts

[05:37–06:20]

• Chris and Annetta stress knowing how to prompt AI to get valuable output.
  • “The key is you gotta prompt it, right?” — Annetta [06:11]
  • “If you don’t prompt it right...you’re gonna get something very vague.” — Chris [06:18–06:20]

5. Annetta’s Story: Real Estate, Prison, and Reinvention

[06:22–09:48]

• Annetta candidly shares her background in real estate, her indictment, and time in prison.
  • She flipped over 600 properties totaling $50 million but was incarcerated due to illegal deal structuring.
  • “When I was actually going through it, I was supposed to do 63 to 78 months.…I got 33 to 41 months, and…I didn’t have no victims.” — Annetta [07:51–08:20]
• Reinvented herself through learning tax prep, branding, and business skills—preparing ahead for her sentence.
• Key lesson: “Prison for real is not worth it. And right now it’s so many ways to make money. Like, nobody should be committing crimes.” — Annetta [09:44]

6. Brush with Icons: Meeting Oprah & Michelle Obama

[10:02–10:39]

• Annetta shares her experience meeting Oprah, highlighting a lesson she learned:
  • “You only need…three good people to get through life with.” — Oprah via Annetta [10:10]
• Described both Oprah and Michelle Obama as “amazing” and “inviting.”

7. Process of Turning Skills into Digital Products

[10:42–13:28]

• Chris asks about people who don’t realize their skills are valuable.
• Annetta’s process:
  • Brainstorm: Identify what you know (cooking, hair, law, etc.).
  • AI Prompts: Use them to turn your skills into books, guides, or curriculum.
  • Building a Sales Funnel: You need a CRM, automation, and content to drive sales.
  • Community: Annetta’s program teaches students to post 30 pieces of content in 30 minutes using AI.

8. Older Audiences and Unlikely Niches

[13:28–15:08]

• Discussion on how even “old-fashioned” skills can be leveraged online.
• Example: “Faceless” Bible story YouTube channels earning steady income, or a couple paid $25,000 for a canvas creation workshop for seniors.
  • “You will think like people not going to be interested in what I know. Somebody is interested.” — Annetta [15:08]

9. Who Succeeds? Traits of the Best Students

[15:27–16:35]

• Ideal student: Anyone with knowledge who’s open to learning and willing to put in the work.
  • “Are you going to commit? Are you going to be disciplined? Are you going to be consistent to even learn something new so that you can transition into the digital market?” — Annetta [16:21]

10. Student Success Stories

[16:35–18:00]

• Example 1: Young woman facing eviction, executes on the training, grows from $500 per week to $4,000 per week.
• Example 2: Student creates a tax prep ebook, lands a $10,000 mentorship client, grows to $15,000/month.
  • Key: Execution and consistency in posting content and raising awareness.

11. Overcoming the Motivation Trap

[18:00–19:40]

• Chris: Most people quit soon after seminars; self-doubt creeps in.
  • “That was really cool for him or her because they have it like that or like this or that…It could be anybody, any walk of life, any bad history, any trauma, anything.” — Chris [18:35]
• Annetta: Community and environment are crucial.
  • “You have to be able to provide for people and put them in an environment where they can be successful. And that’s important.” — Annetta [19:34]

12. How to Connect with Annetta

[19:40–20:13]

• Find her on Instagram: @AnnettaPowell
• DM “CASHFLOW” for more info.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On creating with AI:
  “Now it’s the quick version, just the AI way. So you can like create an ebook in like five minutes…Once you write the ebook now you can kind of scan through it and tell ChatGPT what you don’t like. And now you done. Then you can move it over to Canva and you done. You got an ebook in five minutes.” — Annetta Powell [03:22–03:50]

• On automation and digital entrepreneurship:
  “Now you got AI where you can literally, like, create content and you don’t have to do the work.” — Annetta Powell [05:25]

• On learning from Oprah:
  “She said there…You only need…three good people to get through life with. And she’s right.” — Annetta Powell quoting Oprah [10:10]

• On reinvention post-crisis:
  “A lot of times when people get in trouble…they pretty much break down, right? And they give up on life. And I diversified. I was like, listen, I’m not about to be in prison. I gotta go. I’m indicted and I’m broke. That’s a bad combination. So I really took the time to reinvent myself.” — Annetta Powell [08:30]

• On the power of community:
  “A lot of times when we go home, we go home to, you know, people that’s not even aligned to with what we’re trying to do….if you don’t stay plugged in…then you gonna unplug yourself.” — Annetta Powell [19:05]

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Key Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment/Quote Summary | |-----------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:39 | Annetta introduces her approach to digital product coaching. | | 03:22 | How to create ebooks in 5 minutes with AI. | | 06:48–09:48 | Annetta shares her story about real estate, prison, and resilience. | | 10:02 | The lesson from Oprah: only need three good people in life. | | 13:28 | Turning traditional and “old fashioned” skills into income online. | | 15:27 | What makes someone an ideal student for digital entrepreneurship. | | 16:46–18:00 | Real-life student success stories. | | 19:40 | Where and how to contact Annetta for joining her community. |

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Episode Summary Flow

Annetta and Chris’s lively exchange peels back the curtain on how anyone can translate everyday skills into digital products—with a major efficiency leap thanks to AI. Annetta’s personal challenges and big wins offer proof that reinvention is always possible, no matter your background. Both emphasize that execution (not just knowledge) and an action-oriented community are the secret sauce to success.

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Stay connected with Annetta Powell on Instagram: @AnnettaPowell (DM “CASHFLOW”)

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Transcript

[A]

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Hey, this is Sarah. Look, I'm standing out front of a.m. p.m. Right now and, well, you're sweet and all, but I found something more fulfilling, even kind of cheesy. But I like it. Sure, you met some of my dietary needs, but they've just got it all. So farewell. Oatmeal. So long, you strange soggy.

[B]

Break up with bland breakfast and taste AM PM's bacon, egg and cheese biscuit made with cage free eggs, smoked bacon and melty cheese on a buttery biscuit. AM P M. Too much Good stuff.

[C]

Hey, welcome to the Social 333 podcast. I'm your host, Chris Bentley. Today my guest is Annette Powell. Annetta, how are you?

[B]

I am phenomenal.

[C]

Awesome. Tell the audience a little bit about yourself and what you got going on.

[B]

First off, I just want to say, you know, coming on your podcast and you were saying, I'm trying to do 66 podcasts. I just want to say, everybody, y', all, he deserves a five star. Make sure y'. All give him a five star because it takes a lot of work to put a podcast together. So you got to be amazing. So I'm excited.

[C]

I appreciate that. Thank you.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

Talk to the audience about a little bit about what you got going on. You're telling me that you have a pretty big program that you help individuals with digital products.

[B]

Yeah. So I pretty much what I do is I teach people how to take what they know and turn it into a digital product. A lot of times people don't realize that what they have is in their mind, they actually can make money online from it. So I teach people that.

[C]

That was one thing I did was a couple years ago it started kind of coming out with ebooks. And then I was. I sat at home one day, I went to a bar and for whatever reason, I just got kind of irritated and went home and I just started typing and typed and typed and typed and typed. And then anybody that knows it's written a book, you know, like, I wouldn't say 90% of it, but a good chunk of it comes off anyway. And then you have like a. A product. Right. And then that's kind of like what you would be doing, right? Like helping somebody that, you know. Like with me I just started like, you know, steps to becoming a first time home buyer. Right? And like you put a little book together and I just give the book to like people that were looking to purchase a home and be like, hey, like, you know, here's a book that I created. And it just kind of created a lot of, I don't know, like, kind of like a buzz. Like, you know, I was the expert in the field of, you know, selling homes and people would be like, oh, this is really great. I don't know if they really read it, but it was like a seven page book with some pictures about, you know, how to buy a home.

[B]

How long did it take you to create that book?

[C]

Not very long. I think I typed probably that five hours. And I probably spent another hour like, you know, editing. And I probably spent, to be honest, probably about four or five hours trying to figure out how to publish it through Amazon. And you know, I probably could have done it quicker or somebody showed me the how to do it or like a YouTube video or something. But you know, it's just kind of one of those things I just did.

[B]

See, now it's the quick version, just the AI way. So you can like create an ebook in like five minutes, right? Five minutes. You could create an ebook. The prompt that you need to use, right? Cause you know, podcasting is you want to say, I would like you to create 10 chapters or how many chapters? Write 10 chapters and write 10 chapters. If it's five chapters, you will say create five chapters and write five chapters. 1,000 actual words. And guess what? It's going to write that E book. So once you write the E book now you can kind of scan through it and tell chat, gbt I what you don't like. And now you done. Then you can move it over to Canva and you done. You got an E book in five minutes.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

Wow.

[C]

Yeah, it took me at least a weekend. And that was before AI, Right?

[B]

Exactly.

[C]

So then how do people do the courses? Because I looked at this is before AI, but like Josh Flag did a course. I don't know if you know Josh Flag, but what is it? Not selling Sunset but million dollar listing la. Right. So he, back in the day, he created a whole course. I forget what the platform that it was on. And he just sold it. I think it was like 1000 bucks or something where he was just talking about like how to sell luxury homes and people would buy that and it was just. But it was a lot of, like, taping and editing and you could tell. And now, like, I guess with AI, with Faceless, you know, YouTube stuff we were talking about before, you just kind of just do that without even.

[B]

Same thing.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

So you really. What you could do? If you wanted to create an actual online training course, the first thing you want to do is you could take, like, for example, you said, I wrote an E book, right? So you basically can take that ebook, PDF format, upload it, and say, I need you to create 42 slides for my online training course. And what. Chad, DB2. I'm sorry. What ChatGPT will do is create the course on the spot. Wow. So it's like everything is, like, you know, different, right? And now you got AI where you can literally, like, create content and you don't have to do the work.

[C]

I've been using ChatGPT for just anything. Like, I would just. Instead of. I'm in therapy, right? So, like, I would type something and be like, why is my girlfriend doing this? Right. And it would, like, come up with a whole bunch of stuff. And then I was like, wait a minute, I know there's smarter stuff than this. And then I was, like, looking into creating, like, AI bots for trading stocks and options and stuff like that. And then I was looking at, like, doing algorithms because, you know, you could just type in anything. You can create, you know, an algorithm for me to trade penny stocks, let's say. Right? And then it would be like. And it would come up with all kinds of stuff. And I'm like, wow, this is crazy.

[B]

But the key is you gotta prompt it, right?

[C]

Yeah, that is.

[B]

Because if you don't prompt it, right, you know something, Right. You're gonna get something or it's gonna.

[C]

Be very, like, vague.

[B]

Yes, that's the key.

[C]

Talk to me a little bit about your history, because I was kind of looking at some of the podcasts you were on and some of the stuff that you went through, and we've had a lot of people that just, you know, kind of fell on some hard times, maybe went in the wrong direction. Like, so talk to me about. Not too much in detail, because I don't know if it's painful for you. It's not painful, but just like, you know, I know that it said somewhere that you were incarcerated at some point, right?

[B]

Yes.

[C]

Talk to me about that. And you made, like, a million bucks while in jail.

[B]

Yes. Oh, you've been reeled.

[C]

Yeah, I use ChatGPT. I just know I'M just playing.

[B]

Yes. Actually, you know, I was in real estate investing.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

I've sol in real estate. I sold over, I flipped, I found fixed and flipped over 600 properties totaling $50 million. So at that time, you know, you want to make money really fast. So what I would do is I would structure the deal where I would pay the down payment. So, you know, you only supposed to give 6% when you actually is selling a house. But I would give the buyer all the money and structured it so that I can get a kickback and it will speed the actual closing up. So you know what happened, right? I had to go to prison because the things didn't know about it. So I went to prison and I spent. First off, let's just back this up, because I don't know if we got some atheists, but I truly believe in God because when I was actually going through it, I was supposed to do 63 to 78 months.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

And I just kept, you know, praying about it and, you know, taking my time. And nobody knew that I was going to pray. Like, I was indicted. My parents, nobody knew I was in trouble because I feel like, listen, can't nobody help you. Why are you going to tell them your business? Right? Who gonna help me with the $90,000 attorney? Right. So I just really went back and forth with my actual attorney. And I remember me getting, you know, I got 33 to 41 months, and I had a lot. I didn't have no victims. So it was like the FBI really pretty much prosecuted me. Not even the banks. I didn't have. I didn't have it where I stole money or took money from people. It was like I put down payments down. So they held me accountable for. And so, you know, moving forward, I just, you know, a lot of times when people get in trouble, what do they do? They pretty much break down, right? And they give up on life. And I diversified. I was like, listen, I'm not about to be in prison. I gotta go. I'm indicted and I'm broke. That's a bad combination. So I really took the time to reinvent myself because during that time, the real estate market had crashed. So I got in the tax preparation industry. I learned about Brandon. So I was just working on myself and Kwame Kilpatrick, that was our mayor for Michigan, and we both had the same attorney. So he pretty much bought me some time. So I was out from 2011 to 2015. I was strapped for 2011, so I had time to really build my capital up. Build my tax preparation stores up. And then when I went to prison, I was able to take care of myself.

[C]

Nice, right?

[B]

So it was just perfect timing. And I did 15 months. And you know, I just, you know, I'm glad that I did go just to experience it. Because now I look at it, you know, now you think about, like, it ain't worth it. Like, prison for real is not worth it. And right now it's so many ways to make money. Like, nobody should be committing crimes.

[C]

There's a lot of ways to make money, especially now with AI. And I'm only scratching, like the very, very small part of it. Talk to me about meeting Oprah. Cause I thought that was really cool.

[B]

What is she like, Oprah, me. And Oprah was really amazing. You know, one thing that stuck with me that she said, she said, you got, literally, she said there. You only need. You don't need a lot of people in your life. You just need three good people to get through life with. And she's right. And I have my three people. It was just amazing. Great energy. I mean, I love Oprah. So it was like one of, you know, it was like something on my bucket list. You know, when I met her, she was just very inviting her. And you know, Michelle Obama. I met Michelle Obama.

[C]

Really? Wow.

[B]

Yeah, it's been amazing.

[C]

Wow, that's really cool.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

Let's get back to your digital stuff so we can kind of have some context for the audience. So I know before, like, I was talking about me and like my challenges, which was really like the creative side, right. So now I'm, I've been talking about. And people in the, in the audience or in the studio probably be laughing. But like I've been talking about doing faceless YouTube videos for probably a couple months now. And because I saw some video about it and then I'm gonna do it and events sing more like, you know, when you see something and then you keep getting scrolls in your Facebook and so on Instagram. Like I've been seeing it like all the time, right? So I'm like, oh, I guess I gotta do it, right? I keep seeing it, but talk to me about more of just someone that, I don't know, maybe a lawyer, maybe some sort of skill that somebody has. Maybe somebody that.

Maybe doesn't even think it's a skill. Right. Like I was talking about Josh Black. Like he sells million dollar homes in la and he probably doesn't even really think it's a skill until he kind of like sits there and has to like, Type it out kind of deal.

What do you and your program and the people that are in your. In your. Near the 1200 people plus, what is it that you guys are working on? Is it a lot of just trying to get the content out of one person's head into AI, into digital products so they can sell it, or is it, like, more than that?

[B]

It's not really more than that. The very first thing that you got to do is brainstorm. So a lot of times when people want to create a digital product, you got to think about, what do I know, what value do I have that I can add value to a customer or, you know, to the universe? And so basically it starts there. And, you know, if you really think about it, people start to think, oh, I know how to cook, I know how to do hair, I know how to do. You know, I'm a great attorney. It comes with strategy, you know. And so basically you just take what you know and you say, I would like to create a book on. And you use those prompts, and it literally kicks those prompts out. And so where we come in is you can't even sell a digital product with, like, me. And you were talking earlier, and he was like, I use this software. I can't remember what it is. But you need a sales funnel. Like, you need something to actually, actually have to even put on the Internet so that people can know that you have a product. So we teach them the fundamentals of that. You need to have a CRM, you need to understand automation, and you definitely gotta have content because you need to be able to bring the traffic to the actual sales page to bring awareness. So we teach you how to literally post 30 pieces of content in 30 minutes using AI.

[C]

That's interesting because we have a lot of viewers that are older. You know, they. Maybe I'm kind of old too, right? But, like, you know, they just. They weren't really around for really, like, the third version of a. Of the Internet, which is right now. Right. So a lot of them are, you know, still on Facebook and on Instagram. They are. Or if there are on Instagram, they have a picture of, like, them and their wife and their dog. Right? You know, just like, silly stuff. And then, you know, we have some people that came on as marketers and stuff like that, and they're just like, well, in this age, like, if you're not out there, like, you're going to get swept away, which is really true. And if you have a skill, whether it's baking pie or cutting hair, or whatever it is, you can turn that into, into making some serious money. Because people are really interested in that stuff, whether you believe it or not. I mean, it's just the craziest stuff. They have a faceless AI channel that I thought it was an amazing idea, which is cartoons of the Bible stories. And the person that hasn't makes $800 a month and they probably offset all that, probably about $200 a video to make. They probably do three videos a week now.

[B]

What about, I met this couple, they taught people how to create canvases on a YouTube page. And then. But they had a market which were elderly women, older couples, and they literally paid them 25,000 for three days to go up north. Right.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

To create campuses.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

So I mean, it's just, you know, you, you will think like people not going to be interested in what I know somebody is interested. It's just your job to educate them on what it is that you do or you know, what actually do you do to even for them to gain some type of interest and say, you know what, I want to learn more about that.

[C]

What do you think ideally the best student is for you? Like somebody that comes to you. Maybe they're entrepreneur, maybe they're not. Maybe they just know something. They want to get paid as like a side hustle. Maybe they just want to work their 9 to 5 and you know, after work they want to make some money. Like what is really like your ideal student?

[B]

My ideal student is pretty much someone that definitely, you know, you got to have some type of knowledge. I'm telling God has gifted us with knowledge that's able to, that's open to learning. Because a lot of times, you know, we don't want to learn. So if you are open mind to learn a new skill set, some new knowledge so that you can evolve. That is my type of person because it's not really, it's. Are you going to commit? Are you going to be disciplined? Are you going to be consistent to even learn something new so that you can transition into the digital market? So that's, that's the, you know, it's not about like what's the ideal person is, are you willing to put the work in to learn what you need to do to evolve and learn how to create digital products?

[C]

Talk to me about some of the successful students that you've had. Like what have they created? Have they created e books? Have they created courses? Have they done all the gambit, have they been found by other people?

[B]

I have one student and this is Last year, a young girl, her actual boyfriend went to prison. She was in the actual. In the eviction stages. And she came to my actual training seminar and got out. Because a lot of times, let's just be real people. You got information. Information junkies, people literally go to different trainings. They go to all these online courses. They excited, they motivated, but when it's time to execute, they don't execute. But she really executed. And when she executed it, she started making like $500 a week. Now she literally makes like $4,000 every week right now to this day, because she was willing to put the work in another student, literally. I taught her how to do tax preparation. She turned around and turned her skillset, created an ebook. Somebody bought her ebook and wanted them to mentor her for six months and. And they pay her 10,000, and she literally makes $15,000 a month off something that she learned and she execute. So it's just a matter of, you know, being consistent and posting and bringing awareness, you know, to your page.

[C]

I think the biggest thing is that most people just quit. You know, like, you're talking about. People go to these seminars and they hang out in the seminar and they get, like, real pumped up. And like, I've been to a couple seminars, but, like, they're really big ones where you have to spend a lot of money. But I've been to a couple and it's been great. It's been really long, but really great. You get really pumped up and then, you know, you just kind of come home and you're like, okay, well, you know, that was kind of cool. And then you start putting things in your head like, well, it was really cool for him or her because they have it like that or like this or that. And that's what I really like about the show is it could be anybody, you know, like any walk of life, any bad history, any trauma, anything. And you can still succeed and make big money just by being like, okay, well, let's just do it. You know, like, backs against the wall.

[B]

I don't mean, you know, a lot of times what people miss, and that's what I love about the digital product creators community, is, you know, when you do go through a training, you're able to join a community and you have to be online and you have to be in the right environment, because a lot of times when we go home, we go home to, you know, people that's not even aligned to with what we're trying to do. And so if you're not aligned or if you don't stay plugged in into whatever the community, the environment, you know, the mentorship, then you gonna unplug yourself. So that's normally what happens. So it's like we. That's why we have live training. Everything that you need to create a digital product is there. We got the system, we got the live trainings. You know, we got the certification programs. You have to be able to provide for people and put them in an environment where they can be successful. And that's important.

[C]

And that if somebody wanted to reach out to you, get more information, maybe join the group, maybe they got a cool idea, or maybe they got a skill set they want to put out and start making some money, where would they find you?

[B]

They can go find me on Instagram at A N N E T T A Powell P O W E L L I want them to DM me so I can get to know them. And they need to DM the word cash flow. C A S H F L O.

[C]

W I like cash flow.

[B]

Cash flow and that.

[C]

I appreciate you coming on the show.

[B]

Thank you so much for having me. And make sure y' all give him a five star rating. Okay? Five star.

[C]

I appreciate it. Thank you.

[B]

You're welcome.

[D]

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[C]

Colmena seguros presenta una historia in parable.