Local business ideas, side hustles, and simple ways to make money offline are everywhere. This episode breaks down a postcard advertising business that can be started with no money by selling ad space to local businesses.

Rachel from Big Sky Automation explains how “community cards” work, one postcard sent to thousands of homes with multiple local businesses sharing the cost. The postcards are sent using Every Door Direct Mail EDDM through the USPS, so you can reach thousands of homes without ever buying a list.

Then Ben and Jon get into what actually matters with Rachel, how you sell spots before you build anything, who to pitch, and how this turns into a simple local business without upfront cost.

Find more on Big Sky Automation and check out their their community with our referral link at Community Card Playbook. Get started today!

Topics covered:

• how the postcard ad business works

• Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) postcards

• selling ad spots before building anything

• pricing at $150-$250 per business and scaling up

• how to find and pitch local businesses

• using Facebook and email outreach to close deals

• why “junk mail” still works as advertising

• indirect vs direct response marketing

• choosing the right businesses for each card

• turning one postcard into recurring revenue

This is a simple local business hiding in plain sight. No inventory. No ads. Just selling access to attention.

Business is simple. People are lazy.

https://lowbarpod.com/

Join the private Low Bar Pod community and hang out with BK and Jon plus all of our other awesome members! — https://low-bar-pod.circle.so/checkout/membership

Sponsor:

Sleep like you’re dead (in a good way).

Grab yours at https://SwitchSupplements.com/lowbar

Use code LOWBAR for $10 off Killswitch — the sleep aid for people who can’t stop thinking about business.

Timestamps:

00:10 — What are community cards?

02:32 — Make $1,000 this weekend!?

06:07 — Indirect vs. direct advertising

11:46 — Branding and offer-based advertising

14:15 — How to find clients

17:35 — Pricing and finding the sweet spot

21:32 — Business success and positive feedback

27:15 — Designing the cards and templates

31:35 — Printing and shipping the cards

35:05 — Setting expectations

43:36 — Scaling beyond postcards



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#LowBarPodcast #Entrepreneurship #BusinessTalk #Founders #Podcast #LocalBusiness #SideHustle #Advertising #OfflineBusiness #MakeMoney

Topics: local business ideas, postcard advertising, offline business, make money locally, side hustle, advertising business

Digital products, PDF businesses, and growing a podcast all sound simple until you actually try to execute.

A few months ago, Ben and Jon said they would build PDF products, sell them, and grow the podcast. This is the follow up on what actually happened.

Both PDFs got built. Neither got launched. And the reasons were different. One came down to time and prioritization. The other came down to uncertainty around Facebook ads, funnels, landing pages, and how to actually sell a low ticket product.

Then they shift into the second part of the experiment: podcast growth. What they looked at, what metrics actually matter, what they pay attention to, and what most people completely misunderstand about growing a show.

Ben and Jon walk through what got done, what didn’t, and what actually moves the needle when you’re trying to build something new.

Topics covered:

• building and selling PDF products

• low ticket digital product strategy

• Facebook ads, funnels, and landing pages

• messaging and ad hooks that convert

• why most funnels fail early

• podcast growth strategy and metrics

• what to track vs what to ignore

• why execution stalls even for experienced operators

Most people don’t fail because the idea is bad. They fail because they never actually ship.

Business is simple. People are lazy.

https://lowbarpod.com/

Join the private Low Bar Pod community and hang out with BK and Jon plus all of our other awesome members! — https://low-bar-pod.circle.so/checkout/membership

Sponsor:

KetoneAid Ke4 — Tastes terrible. Isn't cheap. Will make you uncomfortably productive.

Grab yours at https://ketoneaid.com/lowbar for free shipping — the flow state in a bottle that lets me get more done in 2 hours than most people do all day.

Timestamps:

00:50 — Both PDFs are finished…

01:48 — Why Ben stalled vs why Jon stalled

05:58 — The real bottleneck

12:45 — The simplest way to actually sell a PDF

16:35 — Messaging that actually makes people buy

21:45 — Why most Facebook ads and funnels fail early

24:30 — How to take action?

25:46 — Podcast growth: what we actually tracked

32:30 — YouTube collaboration

35:40 — How our growth compares to others

38:43 — What matters vs what doesn’t when growing a show

40:25 — Ninja Creami idea

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Topics: digital products, pdf business, information products, podcast growth, make money online, facebook ads, funnels

#lowbarpodcast #Entrepreneurship #BusinessTalk #Founders #Podcast #DigitalProducts #PodcastGrowth #FacebookAds #MakeMoneyOnline #InfoProducts

Local business ideas and side hustles are everywhere, but most people overlook the easiest opportunities right in their own town or city.

Ben and Jon walk through three local business ideas that can generate real revenue without experience, a big budget, or anything complicated.

They dive into how a local TV ad network works, where you place screens in bars, waiting rooms, and small businesses, then sell ad space to local companies. They also cover building a local email newsletter that aggregates everything happening in your town and monetizes through ads.

Finally, they get into a simple service business helping restaurants fix bad photos that are costing them customers, and how that can turn into a higher value marketing offer.

Topics covered:

• local TV ad network business model

• how to sell ads to local businesses

• building and monetizing a local newsletter

• simple service businesses you can start quickly

• fixing restaurant photos for profit

• how to spot overlooked local opportunities

These are not complicated online businesses. They are simple ideas hiding in plain sight that most people ignore because they are not flashy or new.

Business is simple. People are lazy.

https://lowbarpod.com/

Join the private Low Bar Pod community and hang out with BK and Jon plus all of our other awesome members! — https://low-bar-pod.circle.so/checkout/membership

Sponsor:

Sleep like you’re dead (in a good way).

Grab yours at https://SwitchSupplements.com/lowbar

Use code LOWBAR for $10 off Killswitch — the sleep aid for people who can’t stop thinking about business.

Timestamps:

00:00 — 3 local business opportunities hiding in your city or town

00:52 — The bar TV ad business explained

04:45 — Startup costs and profit breakdown

09:21 — Sales Strategies for Securing Locations

16:45 — Alternative High-Traffic Locations

24:32 — The Local Email Newsletter Model

32:34 — Bundling Local Advertising Services

37:53 — Fixing restaurant photos as a service business

41:26 — Pitching Food Photography and Google Optimization

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Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/LowBarPod

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Topics: local business ideas, side hustles, offline business, make money locally, service business, local advertising, newsletter business

She stepped away from selling $80,000 coaching packages and rebuilt her business around $17 digital courses. Today that simple funnel generates around $80,000 per month.

Cat Howell built an eight figure agency, but after hitting a breaking point she walked away and went through multiple pivots before landing on a simpler model that worked. She shares how that experience changed how she thinks about business, and how emotional state and belief systems directly impact performance.

In this episode, Ben and Jon talk with Cat about both the personal and operational side of that transition. Cat explains how low ticket digital products can scale using Facebook ads, simple funnels, upsells, and strong messaging, and why most people fail when trying to make low ticket offers work.

They also get into the less talked about side of business. How burnout shows up, how internal beliefs affect decisions, and why more revenue does not always lead to better outcomes.

This episode is both a breakdown of a $17 funnel generating $80,000 per month and a real conversation about what it takes to build a business that is actually sustainable.

Topics covered:

• low ticket digital product funnels

• Facebook ads for digital products

• upsells and order bumps

• why most low ticket offers fail

• messaging that drives conversions

• high ticket vs low ticket business models

About Cat Howell:

Cat Howell is known for her work in online advertising and business growth, where she built an eight figure agency in just a few years. She is the founder of The Flow Protocols and the author of Magic Source Codes and Money Magic. Her work focuses on the intersection of emotional state and business performance.

Cat’s Links:

Website: https://cathowell.com

The Flow Protocols: https://shop.theflowprotocols.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CatHowell1

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cathowell/

Business is simple. People are lazy.

https://lowbarpod.com/

Join the private Low Bar Pod community and hang out with BK and Jon plus all of our other awesome members! — https://low-bar-pod.circle.so/checkout/membership

Sponsor:

KetoneAid Ke4 — Tastes terrible. Isn't cheap. Will make you uncomfortably productive.

Grab yours at https://ketoneaid.com/lowbar for free shipping — the flow state in a bottle that lets me get more done in 2 hours than most people do all day.

Timestamps:

01:02 — Moving to Australia and Career Transition

05:05 — Mental Breakdown and Transition to Energetics

14:38 — Emotional "Reds and Greens" Theory

17:18 — Reaching "Rock Bottom" and Releasing Materialism

24:38 — Re-emerging with a New Public Identity

29:38 — Transitioning to a Lean, Low-Ticket Business Model

34:33 — Releasing Shame and Finding Community

40:22 — Validating Messaging with Minimum Viable Funnels

41:50 — Strategies for Scaling Low-Ticket Offers

46:15 — The "Golden Era" of Modern Facebook Ads

*Follow us on Social*

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*Facebook* — https://www.facebook.com/LowBarPod

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Topics: digital products, low ticket funnels, Facebook ads, online courses, sales funnels, passive income

#LowBarPodcast #Entrepreneurship #BusinessTalk #Founders #Podcast #DigitalProducts #FacebookAds #OnlineBusiness #LowTicket #Mindset

Reselling books, liquidation pallets, eBay flipping, and live selling on Whatnot. These online business models turn cheap inventory into real profit when you understand the arbitrage.

Mindi Reinke (https://x.com/hey_mindi) is an eBay book reseller and Whatnot fashion live seller who teaches new entrepreneurs how to start a reselling business. Her reselling journey started with two $1 pallets of school curriculum books from GovDeals. She scanned one book on eBay, saw it listed for $400, and four days later sold it for $375. Those first two pallets turned into $5,000 in about 60 days.

Today she runs a book reselling operation on eBay while building a live selling business on Whatnot. She explains how she evaluates liquidation pallets using ChatGPT, how the Whatnot algorithm rewards chat engagement over sales, and why live selling is still early.

They also get into Goodwill bins (the Hunger Games of reselling), a Costco cold plunge that arrived missing its $3,000 pump, and a personal story about her husband's first responder PTSD and the unexpected path that helped him recover. Find more about that here, https://www.yourguideinside.org/.

Business is simple. People are lazy.

https://lowbarpod.com/

Join the private Low Bar Pod community and hang out with BK and Jon plus all of our other awesome members! — https://low-bar-pod.circle.so/checkout/membership

Sponsor:

Sleep like you’re dead (in a good way).

Grab yours at https://SwitchSupplements.com/lowbar

Use code LOWBAR for $10 off Killswitch — the sleep aid for people who can’t stop thinking about business.

Timestamps:

00:33 — Buying a pallet of books for $1

03:39 — Finding and navigating auction sites

10:33 — Strategies for profitable curriculum books

20:52 — "Live selling" on the Whatnot platform

28:17 — Generating discovery and engagement on Whatnot

32:40 — Top tips getting started and making sales

43:20 — Building a business as a stay-at-home parent

52:55 — Exploring the "Hunger Games" environment of Goodwill bins

56:05 — Seasonal arbitrage failures and lessons learned

59:30 — Using plant medicine to help treat first responder PTSD

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#LowBarPodcast #Entrepreneurship #BusinessTalk #Founders #Podcast #Reselling #Whatnot #eBayReseller #LiquidationPallets #SideHustle #GovDeals

Topics: reselling business, flipping books on eBay, Whatnot live selling, liquidation pallets, GovDeals auctions, online arbitrage, resale business models

Most ecommerce businesses fight for 10–20% profit margins. This website runs at 95% margins, generates over $112,000 per year, and is listed for $336,000.

Ben and Jon break down the economics behind buying a high-margin content website and why owning a site like this can dramatically increase ecommerce profitability, cash flow, and business valuation.

They analyze the listing like operators: traffic sources, monetization, website multiples, and how buying online businesses can become a strategic advantage for ecommerce founders. When paired with an ecommerce store, a high-margin content website can create leverage that traditional ecommerce businesses rarely achieve.

The discussion covers website investing, online business acquisitions, passive income websites, and website valuation, along with the real risks that come with buying digital assets.

The episode contrasts the opportunity with a $25,000 Bitcoin ATM passive income pitch that promised $3,000–$5,000 per month but delivered almost nothing. It also dives into a surprising Florida privacy lawsuit targeting an ecommerce brand over a chat widget and the story of a struggling artist on TaskRabbit that reveals one of the episode’s most important business lessons.

This is a real operator breakdown of:

• buying online businesses

• website investing strategies

• passive income websites

• ecommerce profit margins

• website valuation and multiples

• digital asset acquisitions

If you’re interested in buying websites, building ecommerce businesses, or increasing margins through digital assets, this episode explains the math behind the strategy.

Business is simple. People are lazy.

https://lowbarpod.com/

Join the private Low Bar Pod community and hang out with BK and Jon plus all of our other awesome members! — https://low-bar-pod.circle.so/checkout/membership

Sponsor:

KetoneAid Ke4 — Tastes terrible. Isn't cheap. Will make you uncomfortably productive.

Grab yours at https://ketoneaid.com/lowbar for free shipping — the flow state in a bottle that lets me get more done in 2 hours than most people do all day.

Timestamps:

00:10 — Discussing an RV content site for sale

03:20 — Comparing content site's 95% profit margins to e-commerce

06:45 — The benefit of pairing a content site with an e-commerce business

10:30 — Organic traffic, AI risk, and the YouTube channel's growth potential

13:30 — The Bitcoin ATM passive income story

26:00 — Lawsuits over a live chat widget in Florida

36:09 — TaskRabbit as a side job to earn income?

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#lowbarpodcast #Entrepreneurship #BusinessTalk #Founders #Podcast #OnlineBusiness #ContentSites #Ecommerce #BuyingOnlineBusinesses #PassiveIncome

Sports cards and Pokemon cards have become a real side hustle and small business opportunity. From flipping graded cards to cracking slabs and resubmitting for profit, there is serious money in the trading card market. In this episode, Ben and Jon break down whether cracking a graded Pokemon or sports card is a legitimate business model or just calculated gambling. The framework is simple. Buy a graded card at the right price. Improve the condition. Resubmit for a higher grade. Capture the spread. When the gap between grades is wide enough, the math starts to work.

Watching a creator restoring a Pokemon card using professional tools, then zoom out to the real operator question: is there a repeatable system here? They discuss sports cards, Pokemon cards, grading spreads, the growing restoration kit industry, and whether slab cracking can actually scale beyond a hobby.

Then it gets bigger than cards. Ben tells the story of two Michael Jordan rookie cards almost thrown in a dumpster, a Pokemon drop at Costco, and what happened when he tried to teach his 11-year-old the difference between ripping packs and building a business.

They close on a bigger theme: how to train your brain to spot opportunity early and whether more entrepreneurs should be teaching kids how to think like operators before the world teaches them to think like consumers.

Business is simple. People are lazy.

https://lowbarpod.com/

Join the private Low Bar Pod community and hang out with BK and Jon plus all of our other awesome members! — https://low-bar-pod.circle.so/checkout/membership

Sponsor:

Sleep like you’re dead (in a good way).

Grab yours at https://SwitchSupplements.com/lowbar

Use code LOWBAR for $10 off Killswitch — the sleep aid for people who can’t stop thinking about business.

Timestamps:

00:16 — Cracking slabs: what it is and why collectors do it

02:25 — Pokemon crack and clean process

06:10 — Business model of cleaning, fixing and restoring cards

11:53 — Price differences between card grades

16:50 — Two Michael Jordan rookies found

22:10 — Other collectibles to 'crack and clean'

27:17 — Pokemon flip at Costco

28:50 — Teaching an 11-year-old the business of flipping collectibles

33:41 — The driveway carnival idea and kids learning to spot opportunity

48:04 — Should entrepreneurs talk to students at schools?

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#LowBarPodcast #Entrepreneurship #BusinessTalk #Founders #Podcast #SportsCards #PokemonCards #CrackingSlabs #CardFlipping #SideHustle

Mindset coaching, hypnotherapy, and the psychology of entrepreneurship. Why fear, self sabotage, and the shift from employee to founder hold most people back from starting or scaling a business.

Valentina DeFerrari is a certified hypnotherapist, former registered nurse, and licensed massage therapist who works with entrepreneurs on the mental blocks stopping them from taking action. She joined Ben and Jon to break down what is actually happening in your brain when you know what you need to do but still cannot make yourself do it.

They get into fear of failure vs fear of success, why procrastination is a nervous system response, how the employee to entrepreneur identity shift trips people up, the difference between dirty fuel and clean fuel motivation, and how to manage your emotional capacity before you burn out.

Find more on Valentina and how you can connect with her:

https://therewiredmind.cohere.live/about

https://www.instagram.com/therewiredmind_hypnosis

Business is simple. People are lazy.

https://lowbarpod.com/

Join the private Low Bar Pod community and hang out with BK and Jon plus all of our other awesome members! — https://low-bar-pod.circle.so/checkout/membership

Sponsor:

KetoneAid Ke4 — Tastes terrible. Isn't cheap. Will make you uncomfortably productive.

Grab yours at https://ketoneaid.com/lowbar for free shipping — the flow state in a bottle that lets me get more done in 2 hours than most people do all day.

Timestamps:

00:15 — What is a Mindset Coach?

03:15 — Valentina's background and purpose

07:22 — How she got to be a certified hypnotherapist

09:14 — Normalizing emotions

10:16 — Fear of failure and success

13:35 — What 'doing the work' means

19:35 — Shifting from employee to entrepreneur or leader

27:45 — Self-esteem and what to do with it

31:30 — What is your why?

38:46 — Finding a mindset coach

48:50 — Setting limits on emotional capacity

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#lowbarpodcast #Entrepreneurship #BusinessTalk #Founders #Podcast #Mindset #SelfSabotage #BusinessGrowth #Leadership