Memberships and Communities are a great way to stop selling hours for dollars. But you need to do it right.

I recently sat down with my good friend Becky Pierson Davidson to talk about why so many communities fail and how she helps solopreneurs turn "ghost town" memberships into thriving, seven-figure assets It hinges on this: people don’t want a library of 150 hours of video; they want to solve a problem.

If you’ve ever felt like your membership is a "traffic circle with no signs," this conversation is the GPS you need to create a clear member journey and build a business that supports your life instead of consuming it.

Looking to create even more time and space? Check out my free tools audit so you can make sure the apps and gear you use to run your business are actually helping you, not hurting you: https://streamlinedsolopreneur.com/tools/

Links

• Becky Pierson Davidson
• Build with Becky
• How to be a Scrappy Researcher (to Actually Sell Products) with Becky Pierson Davidson

What do you think? Send your feedback to streamlinedfeedback.com

Simplify your tech stack at https://streamlined.fm/tools

I picked up reMarkable 2 to see how I liked typing on an eInk device. I share some initial impressions, but am facing a bigger, more interesting problem: how to I make it play nicely within my current writing ecosystem?

Get all of the episodes at https://streamlinedsolopreneur.com/
Send feedback to https://streamlinedfeedback.com

Is your tech stack helping you or just adding to the noise? Take my free tech stack assessment to see if your tools are actually worth it at https://streamlined.fm/tools

Simplify your tech stack at https://streamlined.fm/tools

What do Michelangelo, Shakespeare, Marie Curie, Ben Franklin, and Virginia Woolf all have in common? They all created long-lasting, humanity-impacting work…without the use of AI.

See, there are lots of people who will tell you that you need to use AI or get left behind. Those people are wrong.

In fact, I think the way to stand out is to not use AI. At least, not in the way everyone else is using it. While most people are using it to create for them…trying to get ChatGPT to “sound just like” them, I think you what you really need to do is create time and space to do good work.

AI can help you do that. I talk about how in this episode.

Looking to create even more time and space? Check out my free tools audit so you can make sure the apps and gear you use to run your business are actually helping you, not hurting you: https://streamlinedsolopreneur.com/tools/

What do you think? Leave feedback at https://streamlinedfeedback.com

And finally, if you need Girl Scout Cookies and haven’t had someone come to your door, check out the video Teresa made for you at https://teresacasabona.com

Simplify your tech stack at https://streamlined.fm/tools

It's the end of January and my Year of Digital Detox is in full swing. Here's how I'm doing with it so far.

• Read about The Year of Digital Detox: https://casabona.org/2026/01/2026-yearly-theme-digital-detox/
• Subscribe to Paper & Smoke: https://paperandsmoke.com

Submit feedback: https://streamlinedfeedback.com

I was recently trying to do something that should have been simple: sharing my work calendar with my wife so she knows when I'm actually free for family time. I found myself digging through "secret" settings pages, checking her phone, then mine, and getting increasingly frustrated.

It made me realize how often we settle for "fighting" our tools instead of letting them support us.

You’ve probably heard me say that gear doesn’t matter. If you’re a new podcaster trying to drop $2,000 before you’ve hit "record," I stand by that. But when it comes to the daily operations of your business, the right gear—both hardware and software—matters immensely.

Every minute you spend wrestling with a slow laptop, a glitchy hosting provider, or a manual process is a minute taken away from your family or your core mission.

In this episode, I’m breaking down the "Gear" pillar of my GAPS framework. I'll share the specific tools that save me hours every week and give you a practical framework to audit your own toolbox.

It’s time to stop letting bad systems eat your time so you can finally focus on your important work.

Stop guessing which tools you need and start streamlining. Download my free Tools Audit at streamlined.fm/tools

Show Notes

• When is it Time to Switch Tools?
• Todoist
• My Stream Deck
• RodeCaster Pro 2
• Ecamm Live
• Tella.tv

Have a question or a favorite tool? Share it with me at streamlinedfeedback.com.

Simplify your tech stack at https://streamlined.fm/tools

I’m deeply worried about humanity losing our critical thinking skills. We’ve seen it degrade in the social media era, and now we’re seeing people wholesale outsource it in the AI era.

But what if we can actually enhance our critical thinking with AI? I’m too much of a skeptic to tackle this topic on my own, which is why I brought in Christian Ulstrup, who’s doing some truly interesting things in the AI space.

We talk about how AI is changing the education space, how we work, and why we should look to classic philosophers, like Aristotle, for the answers to how we should approach AI.

The Walk and Talk Framework

Want a great way to use AI? Use Christian’s Walk and Talk Framework:

1. Gather Your "Digital Exhaust": First, collect the raw data you've already produced.
2. The AI Prompt: Copy and paste your text into a large-context model (like Google AI Studio) and use this specific prompt:
   1. "I want you to pose to me three extremely precise, very hard-hitting questions, all of which are independent and have different coverage, that if sufficiently answered, would yield some kind of transformative, genuinely novel, impactful insight. Please make reference to the primary source material where appropriate in the context of the question."
3. The "Thinking" Phase
   1. Don't look at the questions yet.
   2. Copy them into a mobile notes app and go for a way
   3. Read only the first question.
   4. Open a Voice Memo and monologue your answer. Don't worry about being polished—mumble, ask yourself follow-up questions, and grapple with the idea until you feel you've reached a breakthrough.
   5. Repeat for the remaining questions.
4. Distill the Insight

Links

• Christian Ulstrup on LinkedIn
• The First Draft is Where the Magic Happens
• How Much is AI Harming Our Ability to Connect?
• Deep Questions Ep. 380: ChatGPT is Not Alive
• Aristotle's Four Causes
• GSD at Work
• Radiant Meeting Recorder
• Google AI Studio
• Mailmeteor

What do you think? Send your feedback to streamlinedfeedback.com

Simplify your tech stack at https://streamlined.fm/tools

“What’s your exit strategy?” Someone actually asked me this when I was starting my business. I didn’t have one. I’m not in it for the exit.

But the question went to something deeper: how are you going to make actual money? Because the problem is most solo business owners charge hourly. Or they need to hire to scale. OR they need to sell the business.

But there’s a better way: Value-Based Pricing. And Jonathan Stark is here today to tell us about it.

Want to see how you’re spending your time so you can do more value-based pricing? Download my solopreneur self-assessment: https://streamlined.fm/impact

Links

• Jonathan Stark
• Value Pricing Bootcamp
• Hourly Billing is Nuts

What do you think? Send your feedback to streamlinedfeedback.com

Simplify your tech stack at https://streamlined.fm/tools

I am no Luddite. I have three pieces of technology that monitor my health and wellness. I’ve come to rely on many devices.

That is why I am doing a digital detox.

This is Paper and Smoke. It’s a look at how real-world craft happens, through the lens of a technologist going through digital detox. In a society increasingly online (and outsourcing thinking to AI), Paper and Smoke celebrates the real, the tangible, and the analog.

Learn more at https://paperandsmoke.com