From Books to Breakthroughs: How AI is Rewriting the Rules for Small Business with Tim McConnehey

0:01Boom! Shake the room, Fire Nation! JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire! brought to you by High Level, the all-in-one sales and marketing platform. Today, we'll be breaking down from books to breakthroughs, how AI is rewriting the rules for small businesses. To drop these value bombs, I brought to Tim McConaughey and the EO Fire Studios. Tim is the founder and CEO of Izzard Inc. Publishing and a Harvard-trained AI strategist, helping small businesses scale smarter, faster, and more profitably through cutting-edge AI transformation. And today, we'll talk about how AI can play a role rewriting your business playbook, Fire Nation, specific systems or processes that are made possible by AI and oh so much more.

0:40And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Tim and our sponsors. Are you ready for the ultimate all-in-one platform for entrepreneurs, marketers, coaches, and agencies? Build funnels, automate follow-ups, manage clients, and even white-label your own software. Say hello to our featured partner, High Level, and visit highlevelfire.com to start your free trial today. Fire Nation, success isn't a solo journey. It's about who you surround yourself with. That's why I built the Freedom Circle, a powerful community of entrepreneurs ready to support, inspire, and share the ideas that move you forward.

1:21Visit freedom-circle.com to learn more. Well, hello, and welcome to our conversation today about how AI is rewriting the rules for small business. And I have brought Tim McConaughey to rock the mic with me. And he is the founder and CEO of Izzard Inc. Publishing and a Harvard-trained AI strategist, helping small businesses scale smarter, faster, and more profitably through cutting-edge AI transformation. And Tim, you built Izzard Inc. into one of the fastest-growing publishing firms in America. How exactly has AI played a role in rewriting your business playbook? Oh, AI has been amazing. I sat down about 2019.

2:06I was going through the Goldman Sachs 10 ,000 small business program and we were allowed to dream one day and I said, oh, that's it. That's what we're doing. And we were a small enough company that I could start to integrate AI in right away. And so I started talking to other people who were integrating it and that were dealing with it, spending a lot of money, trying to raise a lot of money. And I said, I think if I just hang back for a year or two, things could work. And so it hits every aspect of our business. And so I'm so thankful that I came along at the time that I did. Things have just worked out incredibly well.

2:44Let's talk about one specific memory that you had during that time. Like, tell us a story, like a real moment that you're just like, wow, like, take us back there. What we were trying to do is make it so an ordinary author could create an extraordinary book. How does somebody really tell their story in a compelling way? and it's hard to have access to the top minds and the top people in publishing, the top acquisition editors, the top writing coaches. AI was able to make it for us. So we have what's called a manuscript assessment and an action plan, and that's very much AI driven. We can tell as people when there's not an emotional connection, but where we've kind of found that aha moment is AI can pinpoint that and say it better than we can.

3:38And then it offers better solutions. So we're able to give people at an incredible price point great feedback. They don't have to sit there and get rejected and rejected and rejected. I was like, that was kind of the moment where we really saw that take off. And we were able to contribute that to 80 % of our authors landing in the top 10 to 15 % of literary reviews. See, I love that story because so many individuals are so intimidated because they feel like they have a book within them. But then, and I'll even use myself as an example, I love historical fiction. Wilbur Smith is like my go-to author.

4:19He's just an individual that's written unbelievable books about specifically South Africa and other regions within Africa. And they're so historically accurate. and detailed, but also so story-driven and interesting with its character development. I'm like, I could maybe do one or the other. I could maybe do a really boring, historically accurate book or a book that's very interesting, but doesn't really have much in the way of historical accuracy. I could never do both. So it was very daunting and it held me back. I'm sure there's just so many thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of people around the world that if they had the right tools, the right process, the right prompting, they could really at least start and potentially even complete that one book that they have within them.

5:09And maybe that one book turns into a series or volumes or who knows what it could turn into in the future, all because they can just get out of their own way, take that stress off and say, hey, this is just going to get me going. And then I'm going to bring my own vibe with that. What are thoughts? I think you're onto something there and the mentality of publishing at least. So I came from outside publishing. I'll be truthful with you. I couldn't get a job. I think I applied at 2000 places and I just found an author who had books that I could work with and sell eBooks for. And so I kind of came at this from a different angle of publishing is broken.

5:49It's a whole of gatekeepers who just sit and say well it's no good it's no good it's no good but you never get feedback you never understand why and you never know how to correct it and so that's why i think this this assessment that we do works so well and we're not replacing people we're we're it's going hand in hand with the most seasoned editors people who have been in publishing for 20 or 30 years Look, they all got into publishing to help people. They all got into it to build community and make things better. We have an author. He's in Spokane. And I really loved his name's Jeffrey Dunn.

6:30I've really loved watching his progression over the last few years because he's taken it upon himself to go to farmers markets, to start getting out in his community and using that as a way to not just uplift his own writing, but build his entire community. And that's what writing's about. And if we could get out and tell stories where people would pay attention or tell it in a way that others really wanted to listen, I think it could go a long way. I think you're bringing up some really important points because so many people are scared of AI. I think it's just going to take everybody's job. Well, the reality is like, you know, you look back and, you know, of course, when Henry Ford was coming out with a Model T, everybody said, well, everybody's going to lose their job that has anything to do with the horse industry.

7:17And that did happen on some levels, but look how many other jobs were created and look at your business that exists with people that you're hiring. So there's going to be change. There's going to be opportunity and individuals that can really learn like what is happening now and what is going to be happening in the future and can build a profitable business around that, those are individuals that are going to be creating jobs, creating opportunities. And I want to kind of stick on that profit point, because you said your company's profit margins are three times the industry average, thanks to AI.

7:49So can you break down what specific systems or processes make that possible? It's everything. It's integrated to how we assess who we work with, to our backend processes that are very well documented. We have done that so we can pick up the phone and we can talk to our authors and we can entertain other ideas to automated royalty. So we had a book that was mentioned, I think this is about a month ago, maybe five weeks ago on national TV. and we sold thousands of copies within a matter of minutes. And I had multiple people saying, hey, get ready for this. And I just sat back and I'm like, we're ready because it's integrated and we have zero inventory.

8:44Most of publishing, if you look at it, they plan a lot for returns. Hardbacks, you end up spending about 25, you expect 25 % of them to end up in a landfill. That's hard. And it's tough. We have less than 1 % of our books are returned because we just manage inventory better. We want to be all digital. And there's nothing that isn't digital about this company. Sam, let's set the tone. Most small businesses hear the word AI and they think tech overwhelm. What's your advice for entrepreneurs who want to start small but start smart with AI so that maybe they can be in a similar situation where they're not throwing 25 % of their products away?

9:31Maybe they're just throwing 1 % away and they're keeping their margins better and their profits high. What we ended up doing, we just tested. A lot of stuff worked. I made a lot of people or some of our designers, one of our cover designers who's worked with the best of the best. A lot of them work for the top publishers and the top celebrities. And I remember kind of hashing it out with her. It's not going to work. It's not going to work. And she was right. Yeah, she was right. Some of it didn't work. And but we were able to create the structure around it. We were able to test. We were able to say, hey, it's OK if this doesn't work.

10:12I think a culture of smart failure is key. You know, just try it, test it, and be okay if it doesn't work, tweak it. You know, that's what I've done for the last decade. And Fire Nation, we have plenty more value bombs coming up as soon as we get back from thanking our sponsors. Okay, let's talk about a platform that's completely changing how entrepreneurs are running their business, and they are also our featured partner high level. If you're an entrepreneur, coach, agency, or course creator looking to grow faster and smarter, High Level is the all-in-one platform that replaces your entire tech stack.

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12:40That's freedom dash circle dot com. Okay, so this is crazy. You've actually helped draft legislation on AI and transparency. So how do you see government policy shaping the future of small business innovation, specifically in this space? I think they need to understand that they're the folks setting the strategy, they need to understand how it impacts and if we're sitting there. So for instance, one of the big things we're up against is owning your digital self. Our authors can create books and they can create, especially in the nonfiction realm, we have some authors that have done really well, but we could monotype that.

13:23We could sell it. They could build their own personas. And if they own their digital self, it's just another way that they can profit and get their books and data out there. Let's give a real world example. Let's give one of your favorite authors some airtime here, some free promotion on this show. Tell us that story. How is this individual thriving under that mentality? That's a good one.

13:56I'd like to talk a little bit about Paul Skousen and we'll get into politics and a little bit here, but he's done a lot on the Constitution. And if you could take that book and if you could understand the principles he's trying to teach about how to read the Constitution and how to understand the Constitution, if we could integrate that into training courses, if we could use that as a base to then help him with his platform. I could see that transferring to a lot of other industries. We've, yeah, might have to, anyway, might have to know that part of it. No, I tell you, you're actually inspiring me right now to next time I have an opportunity, I'm going to go to ChadGBT and say, give me a 1 ,000 word summary of the US Constitution as it applies today and the way that we speak and communicate today.

14:54because I've actually tried to read that a few times. And I'm just like, I don't understand this language. Like it's English, but they're saying it in a very flowery and kind of like, you know, the prose. And it just doesn't really click with me. So I ended up just getting bored and stopping to read it, even though I was a history major in college. So I can now use something like AI to like make something fun that, you know, maybe wasn't fun to me before. That's a good key. I've also used it. I like where you're going with this because it helps me understand. Because my kids, I have 11, 9, 7, and 7-year-olds, and they ask me all day, what do I do?

15:35And if I can't explain my business to them in their language, I do the same thing. I use AI to help me understand what their thought process is and where they're at on their level. I think that's a really great thing to do. So you said 11, 9, 7, 7. Is that twins? Yeah, that was. Okay, so we're going to go a little off topic here, but the audience loves it when we do that. So I just have a two-year-old right now, and we're actually really rooting for twins. And then we had our child, and we were like, oh, man, thank goodness we did not have twins because we need that one-on-one. Like, okay, my wife is like, take him.

16:12I'm going to the gym for an hour, and I'm going to shower for the first time today. Was twins really twice as crazy or was it more like 10 times crazy? Okay. You're making me here pretty emotional because how we came about is I promised my wife that one of us would stay at home with our kids. Yeah. And she just did incredibly well in her job in clinical informatics. That was on me. I was sitting there running a business, holding two kids and feeding them. Yeah. And I don't remember two years. It is the first two years of their lives. I don't remember, but I could tell you I was like the one wipe master.

16:56I could do everything with one diaper wipe. I was good. Even the worst, I was the best. Okay. I'm using nine wipes on average and at least 20 minutes to put on a diaper and it still comes out wrong. But, hey, we'll bring this back to the point is that, you know, I mean, if, you know, this is seven years ago for you. But like if AI had been around, maybe you could use AI in some ways to like make things more efficient. I mean, who knows? But how we started it was the precursor for that. We had to get everything so concise, so simple. For your 11 to 9 year olds? For the business. Oh. For the business.

17:31Because I didn't have a lot of time. I was trying to build the business in between those meetings. And at the time I thought I was at a disadvantage, but I look back and I was totally blessed to be in that situation. You never wasted a minute. I didn't. Everything was so well done. And my kids even know the business very well. They're like, oh, we did this. Or it's like, hey, this has been here. Or, you know, I just sent a picture of, you know, the guys at Shark Tank who were just chatting with us. Oh, yeah, Damon and Cam. Yeah, and it's just they now start to understand business. I didn't realize the effects that that would have on them.

18:15I mean, you obviously had to become a leader in some way, shape, or form, or at least a different type of leader than you were before. So I want to kind of keep talking about leadership because AI is not just changing operations. It's transforming leadership as we know it. So how are today's entrepreneurs called to lead differently when machines can think right and even make decisions? Yeah, so this one, I love this question. I just got back from Romania speaking at a conference. technology conferences, you know, Microsoft, SAP, a whole bunch of other folks there. But what we talked about is how the soft skills are coming back.

18:55It's the humility. It's the curiosity. If those skills stick and we learn how to be humble, that's what's going to take us there. I want to end with a bang here because we have listeners that are entrepreneurs. They're small business owners. They're even maybe sidepreneurs. I mean, what I love right now about the story that we told about the twins is right now, there's a mother or a father or both that are listening as they're feeding their child because it's 3 a.m. in the morning and they're feeding their child and they're just listening to entrepreneurs on fire because they want to also be progressing forward, learning from brilliant people like you who have been there, who have done that.

19:38And right now, they're like, oh my God, is he in the room right now? because it's actually 3 a.m. and I'm feeding my child as I speak. Because guess what? I do that. When I get up and feed Bo at 3 a.m., I'm popping on a podcast and I'm listening to it because, you know, Bo's asleep, kind of, because if I put him down in the crib, he wakes back up. So I'm going to sit there and I might as well be listening to a show. So let's speak to them. If a small business owner is committed to implementing one AI power change in the next 30 days, what should that one thing be? Process. Understand your processes.

20:12Understand that you can make your processes. You can put in a strategy in place with those processes and learn what that outcome's going to be. So with our manuscript assessment and our action plan, it has a lot of unintended consequences that we really didn't plan on. We didn't understand if Jeffrey Dunn would start building the community, but that happened. And I didn't realize that it's by design. It didn't happen by accident. It happened because we know our processes. We know that we have great people. and we started there. So really, really start with your processes and the whys and the hows.

20:58So that was one example. Give us like another maybe fun example of a process that you've created that you now are like, I don't know if I can live without this or at least I don't want to live without this.

21:13The process that we've created. We've, one that we have is early on we did our royalty management. It was starting to realize that we had a lot of books that were being sold on, you know, 39 ,000 bookstores around the world. How do we make it happen so we know where everything's sold at once? Putting that together, I thought that was amazing. And that's something I couldn't deal without. And our authors can't either because we can dissect and figure out what channel gets what. From books to breakthroughs, how AI is rewriting the rules for small business. That was our conversation today. I think we learned a lot.

22:01I know I learned a lot. Fire Nation and all those people feeding their children right now. I know you learned a lot. Tim, what would be one takeaway that you would really want those listeners right now to walk away with? just try just do it you know believe in yourself understand that we're all human we're here to make things better too yes we're here to make money and we're here to profit but what can you do to build your community for those entrepreneurs and small business owners that are listening right now where can they find you maybe there's a couple authors and there's more than a couple that are listening right now that maybe want to engage with you with Izzard, where do they go?

22:49What is your call to action? Yeah. We're at izzardinc.com. Please come take a look. What's the name? What's the background behind Izzard? You want to know what the background on Izzard is? So A, Z, and Zed all mean the same thing back in the UK in the 1700s, or I'm sorry, ZZ and Izzard all mean the same. So it actually means Z publishing. And so ink, you kind of get that, you know, from that. And then it's kind of a nod back to Z, to the zinc printing plates, like way back in the day. Very clever. You know, I bet, uh, Benjamin Franklin was a fan of that. He loves his printing press. Well, Tim McConaughey, thank you for everything you shared today.

23:33I know a lot of people learned a lot and we'll catch you on the flip side. Thank you. And thank you Fire Nation for listening to another value bomb laden episode. And a big thank you to Tim and our sponsors for sponsoring today's episode and Fire Nation. Your next goal is a hundred days away from accomplishments. Visit thefreedomjournal.com and accomplish that number one goal that you have in 100 days. No questions asked. Catch you there or on the flip side.

24:04Thank you.