Contents
Introduction
Artificial intelligence can improve your business’s efficiency. Start today.
Artificial intelligence tools include everything from chatbots to image and video generators. They can be used both by individuals and businesses. One of the biggest obstacles for business owners who want to use AI technology is to dip their toes in the water. The learning curve doesn’t seem as steep after that.
Derek Pando is the founder of Beeloo, an online company that offers printable activities for children. He says, “I am very confident that anything you do today can be automated with AI, whether it’s writing a marketing copy, creating something in Excel, or writing an email you don’t understand how to write.”
Savings in time and dollars can be significant for small businesses.
Lakesha Cole is the founder of She PR in Tampa, Florida, and says that integrating AI tools into their daily workflow helped her keep the workload manageable. Cole feels as if she has “added three team members without any overhead.”
No prior knowledge is needed to implement AI in the operations of your small business.
Related Article: How to Use AI to Optimise Small Business Performance
The AI tools are capable of a great deal, but they cannot read your mind. If your requests are not precise and direct, they may give you responses that don’t meet your expectations.
Cole said, “It is only as smart and as intelligent as you.” You still need to know what it is you want to achieve.
She stresses that learning specific prompts for your industry is important for AI-powered chatbots. Joe Karasin of Karasin PPC, a digital marketing agency, recommends searching for online prompt guides if you aren’t sure where to begin.
He says that if you do a bit of work on the front end, you can avoid spending a lot of time telling AI what to do.
Cole said it took about three months for her team to master AI platforms. They recorded the prompts that worked the best, so they could quickly refer to them in the future.
AI can boost productivity
Think about the tasks that take the most time and see if AI can streamline them. You know, for example, that researching content can take longer than writing it. Karasin estimates he can save 15 to 20 hours a week by using ChatGPT to find citations and sources for topics that he writes about for clients. He stresses that it is important to verify the accuracy of the information.
He says, “I will do my research there, but my writing remains original.”
Cole uses AI image generators to speed up the graphic design process in her business.
She says, “It allows us to create the graphics we need at the time we need them. We don’t have to meet someone else’s schedule.”
Chatbots that use AI can also help you plan your tasks. Cole gives them a list of goals and deadlines, such as a product launch project, and asks that they create a realistic timetable.
AI can be your marketing assistant
Pando uses AI chatbots for marketing, among other things. They can help him condense his blog posts that are written by humans into social media updates tailored for specific platforms like Instagram and LinkedIn. They can also provide headlines for Pando to work with and can help him tweak them if he is stuck in a creative rut.
He says, “I will say, Give me five short posts that can be used for social media’ or summarize this in one paragraph’.” “All of the work that comes downstream from creating the core piece of content is usually done by the AI tools, who do all the heavy lifting and give us many options. They then cut it down.”
Pando can also give AI chatbots tone instructions if, for example, he wants to make a post seem funny or exciting. They won’t know what voice to use if they don’t.
Be transparent and use AI with caution
Cole says, “I am very selective and picky about when I use AI and when I have to appear myself.”
She decides on a project-by-project basis, depending on the client or type of project, and sees AI tools as “starting points” rather than a standalone solution.
Pando also believes in transparency. He says that small-business owners risk losing the magic behind what makes small businesses connect with customers, which is personal connection and trust. Beeloo has a policy on its website that explains how it uses AI technology and when it doesn’t.
He says, “It doesn’t mean you can’t make it better. But I think that we will have to be more open to maintaining this trusted advantage.”
Conclusion
This article offers four tips on how to integrate AI tools into the operations of small businesses. The author stresses the importance of specific and clear instructions when using AI tools and suggests that you search for guides customized to your industry. The article highlights AI’s potential to increase productivity by automating time-consuming tasks like research and graphic design.
The author suggests that AI can be a marketing assistant who can assist with tasks such as condensing blogs into social media posts and making creative suggestions. The article concludes by advising that AI tools should be used with caution, making decisions on a case-by-case basis, and being transparent to maintain personal connections and trust.
