Back in early 2025, I started running one-day AI workshops as something of a passion project. Not a business strategy. More like: I know how to do this, my friends need it, let me pull something together.
I sent a few texts. Posted once on Instagram. Set up a simple sign-up page.
The first workshop sold out in four days.
I thought it was a fluke. So I ran a second one the following month. Same thing. Some people who had attended the first one came back — they wanted to stay current on what had changed with AI tools.
That is when I stopped thinking of the workshops as a side project.
What I Did Not Expect
Here is the thing nobody told me: the workshops were not just workshops.
A few weeks after each session, I would start getting follow-up messages. Not “can I hire you?” type messages — more like genuine curiosity. “Hey, you mentioned something about weekly reviews during the session… do you have more on that?” Or “I have been thinking about the productivity stuff you talked about. Is there a course or something?”
And yes. There was a lot. I had been publishing productivity content under the Asian Efficiency name since 2011 — courses on the weekly review, task management, energy management, focus systems. Hundreds of hours of material.
These people had never heard of Asian Efficiency. They came for AI training. They stuck around for everything else.
The Accidental Funnel
I was having coffee with a friend after attending one of Selena Soo Rich Relationships events. He asked how Asian Efficiency was doing. I said something like “honestly, AI is kind of the new front end now.”
And as soon as I said it out loud, I understood what had happened.
The AI workshops earned trust first. People show up skeptical — they have seen a lot of hype, they do not know if this stuff will actually help them. One full day of hands-on practice later, they are believers. They have built things. They have seen what their own workflow looks like with AI in it.
After that experience, when they hear I have been teaching productivity for 15 years, they are curious. Not skeptical. The workshop opened the door.
This is what I call a value funnel in action. The AI training was not a sales pitch for AE content — it was genuinely valuable on its own. But because it was genuine, it created trust. And trust opens doors.
Why This Matters Beyond My Situation
I have talked to a lot of business owners who feel like they need to start over when they pivot or add a new offer. New website, new brand, new everything.
But in my case, the new offer did not replace the old one. It fed it.
If you have built up expertise in something over years, there is a decent chance your audience already values that expertise — they just do not know it yet. The question is not “how do I get rid of the old stuff?” It is “what is the one thing I can offer that earns the trust first?”
For me it was AI workshops. Highly relevant in 2025. Something my existing network actually needed. And because it was hands-on and useful, it converted curious attendees into genuine fans of everything else I had built.
What I Would Tell Someone Starting From Scratch
If you are building a new offer alongside an existing business, do not think of them as competing. Think about which one earns the trust.
Your new offer should be:
- Highly relevant to where the market is right now
- Genuinely valuable on its own (not a lead-gen pitch disguised as a workshop)
- Something that naturally leads to questions about your deeper work
The AI workshops checked all three. People left with real skills, real tools running, and a much better understanding of what they could do with their productivity systems long-term.
That is when they started asking about AE.
One More Thing
The workshops also reminded me that people have different ways they want to learn. A lot of my Asian Efficiency audience has always been online-first. But there is a completely different group of people — busy professionals, founders, investors — who would never sign up for a six-week online course. They will carve out one Saturday for something in-person and hands-on.
The AI workshop reached that second group. And some of them became AE customers through the back door.
Sometimes the best funnel is not the one you design. It is the one you stumble into because you were solving a real problem in a format that worked for the people who needed it.
