845: Why Every Small Business Needs AI to Thrive (and How to Start)

24:41What do I say? I'm a perfectionist. I'm like over doing the drafts over and over again. And so I created a custom GPT that has my tone, you know, who I'm trying to reach. And so my first draft is through AI. And so even if it just starts with an idea, it starts with a mood that I'm in, it just helps me get from the blank page to posting in a much more seamless way where I don't feel like I'm taking too long. I'm not stressed out about it. So it's been helpful in so many different ways. I mean, it's amazing because I think people's fear around it is that it's going to replace humans' positions, et cetera.

25:23But what I would argue is that it will help the humans and the personality shine in a better way if you leverage it correctly. And it's interesting because me and my team, we've been having conversations about like, okay, here's when it's appropriate to use it. Here's when I want it purely from the human. And one of the things that I've been pushing against a little bit in the AI rise is like, I am personally writing my emails to my list and not using any AI. Like there's that differentiation where I think that it can cause people to like have concern or be maybe more like curious as to like, did that really come from a person or what?

26:04And so I think that it's almost a blessing in disguise because you can leverage it in so many ways to simplify, to help you articulate, et cetera. But it also is going to allow those people who want to speak from their heart, who want to just push against the AI culture to really shine because I think people will be craving deeper connection. And so it's like, there's no better time than a time like this to embrace it, but also really like hone in on what your voice and your message is without it. Would you agree? Yeah, I completely agree. I think AI gives you the ability to own your zone of genius and the tedious tasks that take away from you being able to shine and show up as fully as you want.

26:47You can automate those things. I think it also depends on your community and what you authentically want to provide. You know, so there's a lot of people moving to voice AI where they have chat bots that are calling people and they're like doing sales calls. For me, that doesn't feel authentic. It doesn't feel, that's not something that I would want to incorporate. And so you have to know how you best operate as a business owner and how does your audience want you to continue to show up? And I think that also dictates how you should use AI. I don't think there's no one size fits all in terms of how you implement the tools.

27:21Yeah. One thing that I think is interesting that I feel like you just like sparked in my brain through this conversation is like in the difference between men and women. And I'm like, ChatGPT is so ugly. The page is not very designed. There's zero color. It's so black and white. And I was like, maybe women are also just not attracted to it because we're so used to looking at beautiful visuals and things like that. I don't know. But if somebody were to, after listening to this conversation, download ChatGPT or go on to ChatGPT and they're staring at that cursor and thinking, Like, what do I even put in?

27:58Like, where is a good starting place for somebody that's listening? Yeah, I think the best starting place is depending on what is the goal you're trying to achieve next. And so if you have a short term goal, like let's say, for instance, you're just starting a business. So if you go to chat to BT, you're like, hey, this is what I'm leaving and this is what I'm trying to move towards. I want to start a business. Help me to come up with a checklist. Like, what are the top 10 things I need to know? Let's say you have been in business for a while and you're like, hey, I'm thinking of selling my business.

28:27So help me figure out what are the steps that I need to take in order to achieve that. And so I think because ChatGPT is so expansive and everyone is in different places, one of the things I also love about ChatGPT and AI is it democratizes success. So what success looks like for me and what success looks like for you could be completely different things, but we can still use the same tool in order to figure out how to make that actual reality in our lives. And so I would just say, if you're ruminating on something, if there's a gap that you're experiencing, go to ChaggyBT and just play around with it, you know, and be very smart about your prompting.

29:07You know, there's a lot of challenges in terms of people are like, I don't know how to prompt. It's just the way that you would communicate with your mother-in-law, with your sister, your brother, you know, just communicate with the tool and then, you know, leverage the responses to see, you know, if it's working, if that's the response that you want, and then you just keep tweaking it along the way. So it's really dependent on wherever you are. It's the one tool that meets you where you are. Well, and what's interesting too, is I feel like a lot of people will go in and give it one prompt and they'll see the initial feedback and they think that's it.

29:41And like, I will say that anything that comes from me that was leveraging AI, it probably had 10 back and forth of like, I don't like this. Let's replace this with this, or let's change the tone to do this and please include this or, you know, and so what's interesting is that you literally, the better the prompts you give and the more guidance and direction you offer, the better the output is. And so I would argue or say, and maybe this is wrong, but like never take the first response. That is the chat GBT garbage that people talk about where it is just like this regurgitation with no personality.

30:21And one of the things that I think can also be incredibly helpful is if you're using it for say like frameworks or more strategies and things like that, and it's something that you're going to share with others, ask it for places where you can interject your personal stories or experiences so that people are actually connected to you and not just like the information because we know how powerful storytelling is and chat gpt will never be able to tell your stories exactly and so i always will like look for opportunities of like how can i add in my own experience or how can i add in a story here to really share why this matters is is that an approach you would do as well i always use that approach, the first response I get, I never accept it.

31:03My first response to the response is, maybe you didn't understand me clearly. So let's redo this. So I was expecting a 10 response from you. And this is a lie because of these reasons. And so please improve on your response so that we can get to this level 10. And so I do that back and forth. I do tweak it in terms of where it's off, I'll add the input, but I allow it to do the work because that's, it's meant to be a tool. And so the first response is always a five for me. Like this is a number, this is a five response and I'm looking for a 10. We're overachievers here. I need a 10. I love that.

31:40Sometimes I'm like, is it getting mad at me? Cause I'm like, thank you. This is great. Like I'm like thinking like compliment sandwich. I like, seriously, it's just so funny. What do you think the biggest mistake you see with people when they're trying to like leverage it, say to like automate a workflow or to simplify a process in their own businesses? I think the biggest mistake, especially when people are new to using AI is that they're trying to use it as a magic wand. And so they're trying to automate something that they don't actually understand in their business, you know? And so they're like, how do I automate this workflow?

32:14And it's like, you actually don't know what you're trying to achieve through that workflow. You know, are you trying to onboard someone quicker? Are you trying to increase your leads, you know, increase, what does that mean? Is that five more people? Is that 10 more people? And so I see people trying to dive in to AI as a shortcut when you still have to do the work. You still have to know what you want the outcome to be in order for it to be effective. And so that's the biggest thing that I see in people like, oh, it doesn't work. I'm like, well, let's take a, let's take a setback. What were you trying to achieve exactly?

32:46And so it's only going to fuel what you've provided it. So if you haven't given it specific, tangible, this is the result that I'm looking for, it's not going to create it for you. It's a coworker. It's a co-founder. Like you say, it's a co-founder. It's not going to just give you the answer. You have to work with it and know what you want in advance. Did you name your chat GPT? I was on a call with someone the other day and they're like, Chad. And I was like, who is Chad? And they're like, chat GPT. I was like, oh, Chad. Okay. Got it. Did you name your, your dad? Yes. Her name is Mary. Mary is so helpful to me.

33:25I love that. Okay. So you have a smart framework and I feel like now is the perfect time to kind of talk about that because I feel like that plays into what we were talking about in terms of like, you have to have that clarity in order to get the help and response you need. So can you walk us through what that framework is? Yeah. Yeah. So I actually came up with the framework because I was continuously working harder, working harder. I was doing a lot of one-to-one coaching and I was just getting really exhausted. I was getting burnt out. My clients were getting really great results, but I felt like I was starting a new business every time because I didn't have a structure.

33:58I didn't have a system. I didn't have a strategy. I was like, okay, this is actually ridiculous. And so what I did, I reverse engineered the experience I had with my favorite, my most successful client. And so I used a different tool, which I actually will come into you is called notebook LM. And so it was amazing. I downloaded all of the audio files from our zoom calls, put them into notebook LM. And I said, what made this an amazing experience? You know, what were the things that I kept doing over and over again? What were the main problems that we achieved? So I literally used the data from my most successful client and reverse engineered it into the smart system.

34:40And so what I realized, again, going back to what we were talking about before, is that we're so used to working hard, even when it doesn't produce the results that we want. I'm like, wow, if we could just work smarter and not harder, I'd say, oh, there's a, it kept coming to me. Let's work smarter, not harder, smarter, not harder. And so basically the framework, it just mirrored the step-by-step process that I just naturally went through with all of my clients without knowing it at the time. And so for me, it starts with strategic clarity. What are we trying to achieve here? Who are you? What is the value that you can provide?

35:17And I think with a lot of different business strategies, we start with a product or we start with an idea. We completely eliminate ourselves, although we have to run the business. We eliminate what we do best from the whole scenario. And then we wonder why are we burned out. So it starts with strategic clarity. What are you trying to achieve? What are the valuable resources, the services? What can you actually achieve for someone else? That's where it starts. From there, we move on to your magnetic message. And so one of the challenges I find for people like, I don't know what to say. I don't know how to show up.

35:49I'm not finding my ideal client. And it always goes back to, you don't have a message. So you're basically in the sea of sameness with everyone else and you're wondering why people are not attracted to you. And so in that M step of the smart, the magnetic message, it comes down to who's the one person you can help? What is the one problem you can achieve? What is the solution that you're going to use to achieve that? And what is their dream outcome? So a lot of times we're stopping at the solution, but we're wanting to have this aha moment and this amazing experience. We have to now push beyond that.

36:23What is the dream outcome for that person? And that becomes your message because when I'm talking about a dream outcome of someone who wants to work smarter and not harder, people are raising their hands like, oh yeah, that's me. You know, I don't have to manipulate them. I don't have to, you know, try to coerce them. Like they know I want to work smarter and not harder, you know, so that gives you also peace about your message and your tone and how you're showing up in terms of social media. Next step is the A, automated workflow. We cannot do things manually anymore. We need like very simple systems.

36:55We need very simple operations. And a lot of those factors now can be automated. I agree with you that we still have to bring our stories into our businesses because we do want to stand out, but we don't have to do it the way that we were doing it before. And so in that level, it's really the marketing, the sales and the operations. I like to talk about marketing from a perspective of how do I get my dream outcome message to as many people as possible? and sales is how do I offer that person an opportunity to work with me to achieve that dream outcome and so before marketing and sales can be very overwhelming for people and they're like I don't have a marketing degree I don't know the right word I don't know the platform but when you think about it like I have a dream outcome that I want to help people achieve and I want to give you the opportunity to work with me to do that then it's like okay we're friends you know I don't have to be stressed about it I want to help you and I want to help myself as a business owner.

37:51So that's now the third step. R is the revenue roadmap. A lot of my clients have so many fragmented offers. They don't align. It's like they're not solving problems. I'm like, okay, we can't make money if we are not offering something of value. And so I help them to articulate what is your core premium? I also focus on premium because as women, we're leaving a lot of money on the table. So what does that core premium offer? And how can we, like, if it's a thousand dollar digital course, what does one-tenth of that look like? Maybe that's a self-paced course. You know, how do you 100X that same core offer?

38:29How do you 1000X it, right? So it's like the same core offer, but then you're changing the math of it so that you can have a broader audience to offer it to. Last one, the T, it stands for, and I just forget, sorry, traffic engine. And so what I found is that one, we're running our businesses in isolation and a lot of the pieces are very fragmented. And so you've done the, okay, I know what I strategically can value. I know what my offer is. I know what my message is. And then it's like, okay, I've done all the work. Now why aren't people coming? Well, you still have to drive traffic to that opportunity to work with you.

39:05And so, you know, is that paid? Is it organic? Is it a podcast? you know what is it that now also aligns back with your strategic value what works best for you so there's just kind of this fluid and seamless cycle that you can just continue to go through and then everything is just just seamless it just works together and so that's kind of the that's a five-step smart process where you know you're working smarter not harder you're not leaving any money on the table you're not over exerting yourself to be something that you're not and I think that's you know the best place to be in you know I only share stuff I'm genuinely obsessed with and so when I kept seeing Bowling Branch sheets all over Instagram I was like okay are these actually worth the hype Drew and I have been using their sheets and duvets for over a year now and honestly our bedroom feels like a completely different space the moment you touch these sheets you'll get it they're incredibly soft to start but they literally get softer every time you wash them they're made from 100 % organic cotton so they're super durable and they're breathable which is perfect for piling on cozy layers without turning into a furnace at 2 a.m this is hands down the best bedding i've slept on and i'm so genuinely excited for you to try it start building your sanctuary of comfort this fall with bowl and branch for a limited time get 20 off your first set of sheets plus free shipping at bowlandbranch.com slash gold digger that's bowl and branch b-o-l-l-a-n-d bbranch.com slash gold digger to save 20 % and unlock free shipping.

40:36Exclusions apply. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm all about creating spaces where people actually want to be. So when we started hosting on Airbnb, it honestly felt like the most natural thing in the world. And it's turned into one of the best decisions we've ever made. Over the years, we've hosted hundreds of couples in our little spaces. We've had so many repeat guests come back and we've created this incredible community, not just with our guests, but also with the people who help us care for our space. Whether you've bought properties as an investment or have unused rooms waiting to be shared, hosting on Airbnb is a practical and profitable choice.

41:13And just think about it. If you've put a ton of time, effort, and work into your home, someone out there probably would love to experience it while they're traveling. So next time you're planning a trip or want to make some extra income from your spaces, you should definitely host on Airbnb. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.com slash host. Okay. I love this for so many reasons. And I feel like the biggest thing that I think of when I think of that is that like that clarity. And I think so many entrepreneurs are just lacking clarity and the confidence in like what they're doing and how they're doing it, where it's like I could see any part of that process, somebody listening and being like, I don't have that clear.

41:56And so I think it's beautiful because it challenges each piece of it to get really crystal clear. And I mean, it's so aligned even in just the AI conversation where it's like the output is as good as the input, right? The output is going to match the input. The same thing with our businesses. If we do not have that clarity and if we cannot communicate that clarity, that's where we're getting lost. And I think that's why so many women are working so hard and they're like, I'm doing all the things and I'm not getting the results that I thought I would. So I think that is so brilliant. And I also love how you came up with that.

42:33That is genius because so many people are doing coaching or I remember too, when I was doing like one-on-one consulting before I'd ever created my online course. And I realized like, there's a theme here. Like everyone's asking the same things and that's how you create the framework. And so now being able to leverage AI tools to really look at conversations, like that's really, really powerful. So I love that. I feel like so many people can take that and run with it. What do you think are like five areas of your business? And obviously every business is different, so it can be general, but five areas of a business that someone listening could just consider using AI in to simplify or streamline?

43:12Yeah. I mean, I would definitely start with marketing. I think that's one of the biggest challenges. Even if you have a subpar product that no one knows about, you're not going to make money. And so that's one of the challenges that we have as small business owners. We really need to do a better job of marketing. And so even if that's just using, you know, chat to PT to come up with your carousels or come up with content ideas, you come up with a whole content calendar based on one idea and, you know, one thing that you want to achieve. So marketing definitely is an easy start. I would also say from a customer service perspective.

43:44I see a lot of small business owners, they've invested a lot of time in creating content. They've created, you know, these massive websites and blogs and all these different things. But yet when you go to their website, it's very difficult to find information. And so having a very seamless, very easy chatbot on your website where people are able to engage with you without you having to invest that time, that's another great way to use AI because you've already done the work, actually. And so you've already done the work, allow AI to help you to offer that to your clients. And then that also gives them a sense like, oh, okay, they're on top of things.

44:21That gives them a foresight on how it would be to work with you. Admin, even the most simplest onboarding process could save you so much time and so much energy. I work with coaches and consultants and the fact that they have to go from a handwritten paper and then it's like, oh, where was that paper? Where were those notes? And I was like, no. Do an onboarding process that will actually help you stay organized. You know how to continue that relationship with the client. Data analysis, I think that's another big area. There's so much data that we're not using. If you look at your metrics on social media, if you just look at that data, it will tell you so much.

45:03You're wasting time figuring out what should I post? What shouldn't I post? If you just go to the data, it's going to tell you what people like and what they don't like. So we're not using the data enough. And every single tool now has the ability for you to download data, whether it's in an Excel sheet or something like that. And then you can just simply upload that into ChatTBT and start querying it and find out where are the gaps. And then again, I would say kind of the workflow optimization. That for me is critical. And even when I'm thinking about my own, it's so funny. I'm really, I love posting content on LinkedIn.

45:36It's like my favorite thing. And so I would be posting, I'm like consistent. And then someone would reach out to me and be like, oh, I have a question about this. I'm like, oh, this is awesome. And then they'd be like, oh, I'd love to work with you. But that jump from like, oh, this is something amazing you wrote to, how do I work with you? It was such a gap. It was like, oh, you know, but then I said, hey, Chachi Bete, I'm doing this consistently. People are taking note. I have a gap here. What is the best way for me to prepare myself? And so it gave me so many different ideas. And so just identifying where those bottlenecks are in your business, where you're leaving money on the table, those would be kind of the five key areas all business owners really need to work on in order to grow.

46:18I love that. I'm thinking of so many different ways we've used it. Like, you know, for so many business owners, if you have like a workflow or even email templates, like load them in and ask them to make it better or more clear or ask it to answer questions better for you. I was just doing that with like our auto responder when we were going to take a break and it was like, you know, make sure it's clear that they will not hear from us if you're not in the office. Like, you know, and just things like that I think is so powerful. I also love the data analysis. I know so many entrepreneurs are not very savvy or comfortable looking at like their profit and loss statements or QuickBooks or, you know, some of those like accounting things that can be very overwhelming.

47:03And so what's amazing is like you could literally load in some of your insights, like your financial insights from your business and say like, talk to me like I'm a third grader and explain what this data is telling you about my current business. And that can really help you identify gaps and also do it before like tax time comes around and you realize you're not really making any money. Exactly. And I also love like the, the marketing plan. I know one of my friends, Donald Miller. Oh, he's amazing. And he went into chat GPT and he told chat GPT who he was, how he serves, what his ideology is.

47:39And then he said, give me 52 questions. My ideal audience would ask about this topic and it spit out 52 questions. And so now each week he aims his content and answering that one question throughout the week. So it could be spread out over three different posts or things like that. And so if you're struggling with like content that actually serves and doesn't just, you know, get likes and comments, like I thought that was absolutely genius. And then even to like helping answer emails, like a lot of times I'll get inquiries and they're just, they're beautiful and amazing and heartfelt. And like, I personally do not have the time to personally respond to every single one.

48:17And so once it learns your tone and your heart, what you want to express, it can really help you speed up the auto reply or like not the auto replies, but the replies that you're sharing with people as well. And then LinkedIn where we, you and I met, you know, I will load in what I'm thinking about posting and then I'll be like, make this more appropriate for the LinkedIn audience. Or even the other day I'd written this amazing post for Instagram. And then I was like, okay, this works really well for Instagram, but LinkedIn is a slightly different audience. Here's my post from Instagram. Here's who I serve on Instagram.

48:51Help me transition this post to a LinkedIn audience. And it took that one piece of content and allowed me to use it on two different platforms. So it's like, I hope that people's ideas are getting flowing from this conversation because there's just so many ways to use it.

49:10Okay. So what are you predicting like in this new year with AI, like what are some predictions or what are some things that we should be kind of watching for as the new year unfolds for us? Yeah. I mean, I love just the excitement that AI provides. I think there's a, there are a billion of us on this earth and on this planet. That means there could be a billion different business models, a billion different definitions of success. And instead of us having to figure it out in our own little cubicle, like hand and paper, we can use AI to just take whatever dream you have and bring it to life. And, you know, it doesn't matter your background.

49:46It doesn't matter where your starting point is. AI is accessible for everyone. And I don't know that we've lived in a time where success is within everyone's reach. And for me, that's exciting because it also makes us more accountable to what we want to achieve, right? So you have to really dig in and say, what is it that I want? And then you use the tools, but it's more than achievable. And for me, that's, you know, that's so exciting. It's so powerful. Amazing. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. Where can everybody find you, connect with you, learn more about you and work with you?

50:18Give me all the places. Yeah, so I actually have one place. LinkedIn is my happy place. So it's my beginning and ending of everything. So if you find me on LinkedIn, I pronounce a wedding on LinkedIn, you will find you will be incorporated into my ecosystem of everything AI and helping women to work smarter and not harder. Awesome. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. This was an amazing conversation. Yeah, I've had such a great time and it's been such a pleasure. Thank you so much. I hope today you feel slightly less intimidated and a lot more excited to use AI as we navigate this brand new year.

50:56I think it's an amazing tool. And I want to remind you, it can never replace you, your voice, and your story, but it can help simplify a lot of life's tasks. I am absolutely loving ChatGPT and finding new ways to use it. And I'm sure this is a conversation we will continue on as everything continues to grow, expand, and change at lightning speed. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Gold Digger Podcast. I would absolutely love to hear what your favorite takeaway was. If you have a moment, please leave us a review or hop onto social and let us know. And if you know someone who could benefit from this episode, please just take a quick second and share it with a friend.

51:36They will thank you forever and ever. Amen. Until next time, gold diggers, keep on digging your biggest goals. Thanks for pulling up a seat for another episode of the gold digger podcast. I hope today's episode filled you with inspiration, gave you information that you can turn into action, and realigned you with your true north in life and business. If you've enjoyed today's episode, head on over to golddiggerpodcast.com for today's show notes, discount codes for our sponsors, freebies to fuel your results, and so much more. And if you haven't yet, make sure you're subscribed so that you never miss a future show.

52:12We'll see you next time, Gold Diggers.

52:18Thank you.