MBA2663 Q&A Wednesday: How Do I Start Learning About AI?

Wed Aug 13 2025

AI is everywhere these days—but knowing how to actually start using it can feel like a mystery. If you're not super tech-savvy or just haven’t had the chance to explore it yet, you’re definitely not alone. Jackie sent in a great question for today’s episode: where’s the best place to begin when you're curious about AI but don’t know much about it yet?

Summary

Podcast Summary: The $100 MBA Show - Episode MBA2663 Q&A Wednesday: How Do I Start Learning About AI?

Release Date: August 13, 2025
Host: Omar Zenhom
Podcast: The $100 MBA Show

Introduction

In Episode MBA2663 of The $100 MBA Show, host Omar Zenhom addresses a pressing question from a listener named Jackie, who runs an online business teaching people how to manage Airbnb properties. Jackie expresses her concerns about her limited knowledge of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and seeks guidance on how to effectively integrate AI into her business operations. Omar provides a comprehensive, step-by-step framework to demystify AI and empower entrepreneurs like Jackie to leverage its potential without needing an extensive technical background.

Listener's Question

[00:57] Jackie:
"I'm not very knowledgeable about AI, but I understand it's becoming important fast. Where do I start and how do I actually learn and use this?"

Omar appreciates the relevance of Jackie's question, emphasizing that in 2025, AI has become an indispensable tool for online business owners.

The Importance of AI in Modern Business

Omar underscores that AI is no longer optional but a "force multiplier" that can "give you back time, improve your content, and help you make better decisions" ([01:05]). He reassures listeners that understanding the intricate workings of AI is not a prerequisite for harnessing its benefits, drawing a parallel to driving a car without needing to be a mechanic.

Five-Step Framework to Integrate AI

Omar introduces a practical five-step approach to help entrepreneurs like Jackie get started with AI:

1. Choose One AI Tool and Use It Daily

Omar recommends starting with either ChatGPT by OpenAI (preferably the Plus version for advanced features like GPT-4) or Claude by Anthropic. He advises against switching between tools initially, stating:

"The more you use one, the better results you're going to get" ([03:20]).

2. Adopt the COAST Prompt Formula

Omar presents the COAST formula—a structured method to craft effective prompts for AI interactions:

C – Context: Define the situation or background.
O – Objective: State what you aim to achieve.
A – Action: Specify the exact task for the AI.
S – Style: Determine the tone, voice, and format.
T – Target: Identify the intended audience.

Notable Quote: "The better your prompt, the better the results. And that's the secret of AI." ([06:45])

3. Create a List of 10 Everyday Tasks to Outsource to AI

Omar encourages listeners to identify and delegate time-consuming or unenjoyable tasks to AI. Examples include:

Writing headlines for content
Crafting subject lines for emails
Repurposing video scripts into Instagram captions
Summarizing lessons for courses
Creating quizzes or worksheets
Transforming testimonials into stories
Generating FAQs for sales pages
Summarizing podcast episodes into blog posts
Drafting customer support email responses
Developing new lead magnets

He emphasizes, "You don't have to replace everything you do. You just need to delegate the things that are time-consuming." ([08:30])

4. Overcome the Fear of Technology

Addressing common apprehensions, Omar reassures that AI tools are becoming increasingly user-friendly. He shares his own experience with AI-assisted web development, highlighting:

"You don't need plugins, fancy workflows, or any coding knowledge. All you need is clear communication and a willingness to learn." ([10:15])

5. Harness AI for Enhanced Possibilities

Beyond productivity, Omar explains how AI can open new avenues for business innovation:

Brainstorming digital products
Generating course ideas based on customer feedback
Simulating customer objections for offers
Developing promotional strategies

Notable Quote: "AI doesn't just save you time, it opens up new lanes in your business." ([12:50])

Practical Application: COAST Formula Example

Omar provides a real-world example using Jackie's Airbnb course:

Basic Prompt:
"Write me a promo email for my course."

COAST-Enhanced Prompt:
"I teach people how to run successful Airbnb listings. I want to write a promo email to sell my beginner course. Write an email that introduces the course and ends with a strong CTA to buy. Make the tone friendly but professional. The reader is a first-time Airbnb host who is overwhelmed and wants step-by-step guidance."

He demonstrates that the COAST method yields more tailored and effective AI responses, underscoring its importance in maximizing AI utility.

Recap of Steps

Omar summarizes the five-step approach:

Choose an AI Tool: Start with ChatGPT or Claude.
Use the COAST Formula: Enhance prompt specificity.
Outsource Tasks: Delegate 10 routine tasks to AI.
Embrace Imperfection: Learn by doing and iterate.
Explore Possibilities: Use AI to spark creativity and innovation.

Notable Quote: "Don't wait to learn AI like you're going to learn something in a course. Start using it and you'll learn as you go." ([13:30])

Encouragement and Call to Action

Omar concludes by motivating listeners to take immediate action:

"If you've been ignoring AI because it felt too big or too nerdy or too late, today's the perfect day to change that." ([14:00])

He invites listeners to subscribe for more practical business lessons and engage with future Q&A sessions by submitting their questions.

Conclusion

In this episode, Omar Zenhom effectively demystifies AI for entrepreneurs, providing a structured and actionable roadmap to integrate AI into their businesses seamlessly. By emphasizing practical steps, mindset shifts, and continuous learning, Omar empowers listeners to harness AI's full potential, ensuring they stay competitive in the evolving business landscape.

Further Resources:

Visit: 100mba.net for more business lessons and resources.
Subscribe: Follow The $100 MBA Show on your favorite podcast platform to receive future episodes automatically.

Transcript

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Keep it quilted with Quilted Northern if you've been feeling behind when it comes to AI, you're not alone. Today's question comes from Jackie, who runs an online business teaching people how to manage Airbnb properties. Jackie says, I'm not very knowledgeable about AI, but I understand it's becoming important fast. Where do I start and how do I actually learn and use this? Jackie, I love this question because if you're an online business owner in 2025, AI is no longer optional. It's a force multiplier. It can give you back time, improve your content and help you make better decisions. But here's the best part. You don't need to know how it works under the hood to start using it and benefiting from it. Just like you don't need to be a mechanic to drive a car. You don't need to be a machine learning expert to use AI effectively in your business. Today I'm going to show you exactly how to get started with simple, easy steps and how to make it a part of your everyday workflow. Welcome back to the Hundred Dollar MBA show. I'm your host Omar Zenholm where I deliver practical business lessons three times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday to help you start, grow and scale your business. Your first move is to pick one AI tool and use it daily. There's a lot of options out there, I'm telling you. There's a lot of different models and a lot of different choices out there. But to keep it simple, I'm going to give you two two choices. One is ChatGPT by OpenAI. I recommend the plus version because it gives you more of the more advanced models like GPT. 4. It's significantly better than the free model that you get with the free plan. Or you can use Claude by Anthropic, another great option. Either one works. Just pick one and don't hop between tools at first. The more you use one, the better results you're going to get. One of the biggest hacks I can give you is to change your mindset about AI. You want to use AI like it's an intern who's super fast and never complaints. Okay, here's how to make it a habit. Every day, give it one small task related to your business. Need a YouTube title? Ask it for some ideas. Need help writing an Instagram caption? Ask it. Got a blog post idea, but don't know where to start asking? Ask for an outline, give it some information and it will give you a pretty decent outline. Want to improve your Airbnb course sales page? Take a screenshot, paste it, and ask for critique. It's incredibly powerful. The key is, though, that you use it consistently. One small task every single day. Step two. You want to use a prompt formula that I invented called the coast formula. I created the structure called coast. It's an acronym, C, O, A, S, T. You can use that acronym to write better. The reason why this acronym is very powerful is because you're going to get very specific about what you want so you get a better result. Think about it like ordering from a restaurant. You don't just tell them, bring me food. Right? Because they can bring you anything from the menu. But if you want steak, then you want to be as specific as possible, like bring me a sirloin steak that's medium rare with a side of chips and salad and peppercorn sauce. Now we're getting somewhere. So here's what COAST stands for. Okay? And this is how you're going to structure your prompts. The first initial thing you put in the chat box, in ChatGPT, or with Claude, the first letter C and its context. Okay, what's the situation? Who are you? Okay. What are you doing? Okay. O is objective. What do you want to achieve? A is action. What should the AI do exactly? S is style. The tone, the voice, the format. Do you want it to be funny? Professional? Do you want a list? Do you want it in email format? And lastly, T is target. Who is it for? What kind of reader or viewer or audience member is this for? So let me give you a real example from Jackie's business, okay? That you can use the coast method or coast formula. Let's say, for example, you want help writing an email for your Airbnb course a marketing email. You could say, write me a promo email for my course. Okay? But you're going to get a very generic response from the AI because it doesn't know anything about your course. But let's use the coast formula instead. I would prompt the AI with I teach people how to run successful Airbnb listings. I want to write a promo email to sell my beginner course. Write an email that introduces the course and ends with a strong CTA to buy. Make the tone friendly but professional. The reader is a first time Airbnb host who is overwhelmed and wants step by step guidance or a plan. Boom. You're going to get dramatically different outputs when you use the coast method. The better your prompt, the better the results. And that's the secret of AI. And soon, because you're doing this every day, you'll get faster at prompting without needing to remember the full acronym. Learning a new language can help expand your mind, enrich a traveling experience, or in my case, help you understand what your in laws are saying at the dinner table. I've been learning Italian with Rosetta Stone and I absolutely love it. You can learn a new language with their bite sized lessons. I love this because whether you're sitting at the pool or hitting the beach or just relaxing at home, Rosetta Stone makes it easy for you to fit in a few minutes of language learning every day. And that consistency that Rosetta Stone allows you to have really lets you advance in that language learning really quickly. I is so impressed by how much Italian I've learned. And spoiler alert, they're not really saying anything about me. They're talking about what they're going to have in the next meal. I mean, they're Italian after all. I highly recommend use Rosetta Stone to learn your next language. Don't wait. Unlock your language learning potential. Now the $100 MBA show listeners can grab Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership for 50% off. That's unlimited access to 25 language courses for life. Visit Rosetta Stone.com MBA to get started and claim your 50% off today. Don't miss out. Go to Rosetta Stone.com MBA and start learning today. Running a business is complicated. There's dozens of software programs that you need and they're all so expensive. And since they come from different companies, they don't always play nice with one another. But what can you do, right? Odoo? That's what Odoo has. All the software business owners need. We're talking sales, CRM, manufacturing, websites, literally every kind of software, and it's an all in one platform. So it all works together and it's quality software, so you're not sacrificing. It's simply a better experience than a hodgepodge of programs trying to fit together. You'd expect to pay a premium for it, right? But that's the most amazing part about Odoo. This interconnected suite of business software costs less than the mismatch of disconnected programs you're currently using. So the question is, why spend more on software programs that are less efficient when Odoo's simple software program can handle everything for a fraction of the price? Discover how Odoo can take your business to the next level by visiting odoo.com that's o d o o.com Step 3 Create a list of 10 everyday tasks you can outsource to AI. This is a game changer. I want you to sit down and write down a list of 10 tasks you do regularly in your business that you don't enjoy or take very long, right. That take too much of your time. Here are some examples most online businesses like Jackie's can relate to or might find on their list. Number one, writing headlines for content. Number two, writing subject lines for emails. Number three, repurposing video scripts into an Instagram caption. Number four, writing a lesson summary for your course. Number five, creating a quiz or a worksheet from your course. Number six, turning a testimonial into a story. Number seven, generating FAQs for sales pages. Number eight, summarizing a podcast episode into a blog post. Number nine, drafting responses to customer support emails. And number 10, creating a new lead magnet for your product. Once you have your list, aim to hand one or two of these to AI every single day. You don't have to replace everything you do. You just need to delegate the things that are time consuming, that don't really generate a lot of money, and things that you don't enjoy. And when it comes to the things you do enjoy, AI can become your first draft partner or brainstorming buddy. Step four don't fear the tech. It's getting easier. Jackie, I get it. AI can feel intimidating. But here's something that no one tells you or doesn't tell beginners. The tools are getting easier week by week. At the beginning, it was quite hard to understand how to use these things. Now it's just basically type what you want in a box, okay? I used to have to use certain tools or quite complicated to fix certain things in my code and my Website. I like to do a little tinkering when it comes to web development. Now, there are AI tools that allow you to just write whatever you want and the code just pops out and it just generates whatever you need on your website. Pretty cool. You don't need plugins, you don't need fancy workflows, you don't even need any kind of coding knowledge or skills. All you need is clear communication, a little curiosity because you're going to learn as you go as it develops, and the willingness to test and refine and repeat when things are not exactly what you want. You're going to learn by doing and don't aim to be perfect when it comes to aim to be consistent and to just have progress. Get better. And when you hit a wall, just ask AI to help you get better at prompting. Seriously. You could say to ChatGPT, for example, how can I make this prompt that I just wrote you to get me better results? How can I rewrite the prompt to get better results? I'm telling you, it's great. It's incredible. Step five the real magic. Okay. It's not just productivity, it's possibility. AI doesn't just save you time, it opens up new lanes in your business. You can use it to brainstorm your next digital product. You could generate new course ideas based on Airbnb host pain points that they express to you in your community. You can have it simulate as a customer and ask it what objections they'd have to an offer. Right? Pretty cool. You can ask it to act like a launch strategist and build you a seven day promo plan. The ideas that you'll start to generate for prompts for AI will start to get better and better at the more you use it. You're going to start saying, well, can it do this, can it do that? Can I ask it to do something new that I don't normally do? And you'll find new ideas pop up just by using it. Not because AI is magic, but because you're thinking bigger when you're not buried with busy work, right? So Jackie and everybody who's listening, you're already ahead of most people by just asking how I start, right? How should I start with AI? Well, you're already starting by asking. Now it's time to play. Now it's time to use it. So to recap real quick, pick one AI tool you can use. ChatGPT or Claude is what I recommend. Either one, use the cost Prompt framework for better output. C O A S T Number 3. Build a list of 10 tasks you want AI to start doing instead of you doing it. Number 4 Let go of perfection. Learn by doing. Number 5 Use it not just to save time, but to spark ideas and explore endless possibilities. For now, AI is not replacing you. Okay, but someone using AI will. Okay, the good news is that that can be you. You're still early, you still have time. But don't wait to learn AI like you're going to learn something in a course. Start using it and you'll learn as you go. Thanks for the question, Jackie, and thanks for everybody who's listening who are trying to get smarter have more fun with their business. I love it. If you have a question you want to ask, go ahead and ask it on Q and A Wednesday. All you got to do is go to 100- MBA-NETQ and submit your question. There's and I'll make sure to answer it right here on the show. And hey, if you're listening and you've been ignoring AI because it felt too big or too nerdy or too late, today's the perfect day to change that. If you found today's episode helpful and you want more practical business lessons to help you start, grow and scale your business, the best thing you could do is subscribe to this podcast, Hit subscribe or follow on your favorite podcast app, the one that you're using right now. Whether it's Apple or Spotify or ever, you listen to podcasts or by hitting subscribe you get our next episode automatically and it's the best way to support the show. It's absolutely free and it's a way for you to commit to growing your business. And now that you subscribed, I'll check you in the next episode.