August 6, 2025 • 35 mins
The AI revolution is transforming business at breathtaking speed, and entrepreneurs who don't adapt risk being left behind. This conversation delves into how artificial intelligence is reshaping the entrepreneurial landscape in ways strikingly similar to the Industrial Revolution – but with one critical difference. While that earlier transformation primarily affected blue-collar manual work, AI is revolutionizing white-collar strategic positions.
For small business owners, AI often represents a "black box" of uncertainty. However, unlike traditional software development where projects frequently extend beyond deadlines, AI delivers results rapidly – though quality remains a variable. The challenge isn't whether to embrace these powerful tools, but how to integrate them thoughtfully into your business strategy.
The discussion highlights practical applications already transforming small businesses: automated lead generation systems that qualify prospects without human intervention, content creation tools generating marketing materials in minutes instead of days, and competitive analysis that delivers in seconds what previously required weeks of research. One retail executive shared how AI compiled comprehensive competitive product information instantaneously – a task that would have taken an analyst ten full days.
Perhaps most importantly, the conversation emphasizes that as automation increases, uniquely human skills become more valuable than ever. Communication abilities, relationship building, creative vision, and strategic thinking are irreplaceable assets in an AI-augmented world. The most successful businesses won't simply replace humans with algorithms, but thoughtfully integrate these tools while emphasizing human contributions that no AI can duplicate.
Ready to start incorporating AI into your business? Begin with practical applications like pricing research or competitive analysis using freely available tools. As your needs grow, consider partnering with specialized consultants who can build custom workflows for your specific industry. The choice is clear: adapt and evolve, or risk being outpaced by competitors who embrace the AI revolution.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
As a business owner over the years.
Who's hired, let's say, peopleto develop software?
For me it's a black hole.
We never know as much as theyknow.
My brother, john, was the WPP.
There was $17 billion.
He's freaking consulting.
They tell you it's going to besix months and then it's going
(00:22):
to be another six months andit's just a a black hole.
I guess I feel like it could bethe same way with AI, except
the difference is that AI isgonna give you a product real
fast.
It just may not be a good one.
Here we are.
We're back with another episodeof the Big Talk About Small
(00:45):
Business, and we've got a coupleguests with us here Darrell
Bock Impromptu guests.
Steve Trang Impromptu Eric justinvited him in from the lobby.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Darrell Bock- that is not a lie, steve Trang.
That's very true, darrell Bock,that's 100% accurate, steve.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
Trang, well, we know these guys, though.
Darrell Bock, well, I know them.
Steve Trang, you know, I don'tknow these guys, you don't know
who they are.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
No, I just met these guys five minutes ago In the
lobby, yeah, and they're likelet's go, yeah, talking about
wives and stuff.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
I see these guys Give us some advice.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
No, I just saw these two hipsters with their ball
caps and their mustachesSpeaking of.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
Ron Burgundy Right, there you go.
Now it's a child of day, atnight, yeah, another role,
another real feral role.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Yeah, what is it with the mustaches, with these and
the four day beard growths?
I mean they all do it.
That's the first question ofthe podcast.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
That's a good point Josiah here, Is this Josiah?
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yeah, that's Josiah.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Yeah, and that's Connor.
Tell these guys who you are.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Yeah, I'm Josiah Ripplemeyer.
I work for Eric over at AdFury.
My title, which I think isgoing to get picked apart a
little bit, is an AI architect.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
He doesn't know any of our rules, yet I don't know
the rules.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
This is what happens when you pull someone in from
the lobby.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
That's a good point.
We try to avoid excessivecursing.
There will be some cursing, butwe stay away from certain curse
words.
We don't talk about politics,we don't talk about religion, we
don't talk about contentioussocial topics, and we wait for
the other person to finishbefore we speak.
You don't always do a good jobwith that.
Speaker 6 (02:30):
No no.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
That one's.
That's a little bit of a looserule.
Anyway, that's one of our rules.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Sorry, so you do work with Ed Fury.
You're an AI architect.
Yes, you know the architects.
The real architects hate that.
In fact, they're su.
Real architects hate that.
In fact, they're suing softwarepeople over that.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
I didn't know that.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Yeah, because to be an architect, you have to be to
call yourself an architect.
You can have a five-year degree, but you're not licensed.
You can't call yourself anarchitect.
You're an intern or you're adesigner.
So here we got these guys thatdon't even have an architectural
education.
Right, okay, they're computerjocks or whatever.
(03:11):
That's a boomer term, isn't it,computer jocks?
I don't think I've heard thatone.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
I like it.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
But anyway, okay.
So he's an AI architect.
We'll let him go with that, forright now we're going to come
back to you.
Not licensed.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
AI architect.
We'll let him go with that.
For right now we're going tocome back to you.
Not licensed AI architect.
I am comfortable with AIcomputer jock.
That's good.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
I know he didn't really want to use that term,
architect.
You forced him into it, I did.
Okay, you're trying to make itsound more esoteric than it is.
It's my fault.
I don't know a damn thing aboutAI, but we're going to get into
that in a minute.
Connor over here.
Yes, tell us about yourself.
Speaker 5 (03:48):
My name is Connor Callison.
I also work for Eric over atAdFury.
Josiah is my direct boss, okay,dang, and Eric is over everyone
Except.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
JS.
Speaker 5 (04:02):
Except JS.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
Yep.
So what do you do, connor, atthe?
I mean, what's your practice?
What do you do?
Speaker 5 (04:07):
so I'm a prompt engineer, so I do a lot of um,
talking with ai to get thedesired result that we're trying
to achieve, which I will nottalk about what we're doing over
there at the moment.
Okay, um, but yeah, basicallyjust continually prompting it,
(04:28):
or telling it different thingsto get a desired result is the
most simple explanation.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
It sounds like you're doing all the work.
What the heck is josiaharchitecting?
What do we need him for?
Speaker 4 (04:38):
he's architecting mark.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
I don't know what that means in this context
Planning, organizing, masterplanning.
Speaker 4 (04:44):
It is, it is a very big picture.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
It's a more traditional term.
It's closer like a back-endengineer for a software company,
but specifically within therealm of AI.
Speaker 4 (04:56):
So a lot of new roles , but it's really kind of let's
tap into really the discussiontoday, right, which is what is
AI doing to the entrepreneurial,the business landscape, like
it's a it's a pretty significantthing.
There's a lot of in.
I think there's a lot ofintimidation out there, a lot of
unknown, a lot of and it's nota certain industry in of itself.
(05:18):
You know, I like and honestlylike.
One of the best things I canattach it to as an analogy is
something similar to theIndustrial Revolution, right, I
mean you know we're automatingstuff, automating Dyeing up
shoes, a pair at a time Exactly,and I think it's really scary
for a lot of folks because it's,you know, the Industrial
Revolution really automated alot of the kind of more blue
(05:39):
collar manual labor work.
Speaker 6 (05:41):
Yeah, right.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
AI is revolutionizing a lot of the white-collar
strategic work.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Yeah, if you're a marketing consultant, you might
want to start thinking aboutgoing and getting your plumbing
license.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
So that's one decision, but the other one that
I think that we're going to tryto encourage folks right is
adaptation evolution.
Sure, you know again similar tothat revolution.
Try to encourage folks right isis adaptation evolution?
Yeah, no, like you can share,you know, again similar to that
revolution.
Like you can either bounce outand do something completely
different or you can startlearning the machines and how to
(06:14):
work those things, becausethere is a lot of practicality
that you can apply to thosethings.
Like you know what works anddoesn't work right, because we
see a lot of times in the newsof letting ai do its own thing
and it doesn't work right,because we see a lot of times in
the news of letting a yacht doits own thing, and it doesn't
really turn out very well, well,yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
well.
On the point, though, of justmarketing, people should be
worried.
I actually, just yesterday, metwith a recent college grad who
studied marketing, and he waspicking my brain about what.
What can he do to markethimself, as he's looking for
work in this changing landscapearound AI?
(06:50):
So it was basically like howcan I be utilizing AI to show
that I'm not behind the curvehere?
But that's exactly what you'resaying, yeah, yeah, you've got
to adapt.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
Here's what I've found Like.
I feel like that everybody anall entrepreneur, anybody
listening to the show, anybodyreally on the earth right now
needs to recognize that this isnot something that's impacting
one sector or another or oneperson or whatever.
Because I mean, I have 30 years, 20 something years in
experience in marketing.
This whole thing is like makingme completely change my all my
(07:28):
presumptions and all the youknow, I've spent a lot of time
in this arena, so, like in 20plus years, right, I'd like I
have to go.
Okay, wait a minute,everything's being reinvented.
Now, however, there's a lot ofcomfort in and where I'm sitting
to say, oh, I can apply allthese learnings and this
experience.
I have to help navigate and setup these workflows and what's
(07:50):
going on and become attuned tothat and to the recent grad.
We're in the same scenario, butwith different places, where we
start out with right, therecent grad.
The good news for them is thatthey can really start fresh and
they can really apply thatenergy and all this time into
(08:11):
what's going on with AI andstarting to use those tools and
making sure they understand.
But I think the answer on bothsides is you either jump in or
you fight change, which isopposite of entrepreneurship in
a lot of ways, right, I mean,like you have to.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Some businesses make it just by not changing anything
, but it's rare.
It is rare I mean that is astrategy you can follow.
I actually wrote an article onthat once.
It's called the Strategy ofChanging Absolutely Nothing.
I mean there's a 200-year-oldcompany in England that makes
shoes a pair at a time and, likeyou know, they got like 40
workers and the king of Englandwears their shoes and stuff.
(08:50):
Yeah, but that's a rarity okay,that's a rarity.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
That is fair.
But what I like about thatthough, mark, and what I'm kind
of, I'll let you guys talk alittle bit.
But I get excited about thisbecause I do believe that, in
spite of all this mass changegoing on with AI and how
everything's being impacted,there is going to be this
artisan side.
Yes, there is Right.
The buy local, the artisan, youstill have the painter, that's
(09:15):
the genius that comes out.
I mean, all those things willlive on.
I think they might be even morevaluable as time goes on.
I agree, I completely agree.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
But back on this young guy, though, I just want
to say something.
I read an article recently onLinkedIn where somebody writes
in it's like I don't know, youknow, what should I encourage my
kid to do in college?
Yada, yada, yada with AI andall these changes and everything
.
And the answer somebody gave it, but you know, was basically
(09:45):
and I totally agree with thisfocus on the things that are not
impacted by AI, like yourverbal communication skills,
your ability to maintainrelationships, your
interpersonal skills.
Those things aren't going to goaway.
Those are always going to bevalued, and you can learn the
technologies that you need andadapt.
(10:07):
Adapt, it's not like go intogeotechnical engineering, right,
suzy?
That's going to be a hot careerfor the next 20 years, and
that's I mean.
Who says college educationshould be vocational training?
Speaker 3 (10:20):
you know, it's.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
It teaches you how to think and act and communicate.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
I love how you say that my original background was
actually in education and Itaught during COVID.
And do you see the soft skillsjust deteriorating in?
Speaker 1 (10:41):
students Yep.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
Especially within COVID, and then the prevalence
of just communicating onlineonly and then even just using
chat.
Gpt is your best friend.
Yes it's just, those softskills are just deteriorating
really quickly and they're goingto be even more important and
easier to just set yourselfapart.
This you can't.
Just you know, know.
(11:04):
I've joked and said like promptengineering is a good title,
but it's quickly becoming likeequivalent to just being able to
use Microsoft Word, likeeveryone should be able to do
that.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
But just because you can use Microsoft Word doesn't
make you a good writer does itRight, yes or if you can use a
graphic design program.
It doesn't mean you're a goodgraphic designer.
I mean it's like I could see,like what Connor does over here
is super valuable, and if you dohave like a really good
communication skill set, it willhelp you phrase these queries,
(11:40):
or whatever we want to call them, properly to get what you
really want, don't?
Speaker 3 (11:46):
you think, yeah, as a guy with some education
background, yeah, I mean, butyou're going to need to be able
to show that you can do it.
And you know, just saying I'm aprompt engineer is going to
lose a lot of value.
Speaker 6 (12:00):
Sure, I understand.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
It's going to become completely saturated.
So it's more like show me whatyou've built.
You know that kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Well, we get that with graphic design.
I mean, eric, you know, I meanwe've been hiring graphic
designers for 40 years.
It's like I'm a graphic artist.
Whenever I see that, I'm likeokay, okay.
And then you look at theirstuff and it looks like shit,
yeah, okay, yeah, I mean no,you're not.
You know how to use PageMakeror whatever is used today.
You know, yeah, but you suckyeah.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
Well, I think the thing is it's kind of parallel
to what has always happened.
Right, you can be a graphicdesigner, but then can you be a
creative director.
Yeah Right, there's anotherlevel to that.
You know the soft skill thing.
You know it's like how do youcommunicate, how do you lead
other people, how do you leadprojects, how do you lead
business, how do you, you know,build that infrastructure and be
able to actually have thosetypes of relationships to make
(12:57):
things actually happen?
And I see, like I think this isa really good point those soft
skills right, like I guess onestatement might be with AI
coming in, do not forsake thesoft skills Right.
And actually you need to studyself-learn.
This is an opportunity for youto graduate and take those
(13:18):
things to a higher level, whileeverything else is kind of being
levelized in a lot of ways.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Yeah, right.
Well, you two guys are in theheat of the battle out there.
Just tell us, like, what aresome applications that people
are really using AI for today?
I mean, we all know, likecustomer service, there's a
million applications for itthere.
You don't even know who thehell you're talking to.
I'm sure I was talking to AIthe other day with American
(13:44):
Airlines.
In fact, I asked it if it wasAI and I didn't get a response
which told me it was AI.
Speaker 5 (13:49):
Yeah, right.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
But so what are some applications that you all are
seeing and where it's reallygetting rapidly adopted?
Speaker 5 (14:00):
Yeah, I mean one that you all have heard of and
everyone has heard of is ChatGPT, and within ChatGPT there's a
lot of different capabilities,and I think one within the last
couple of months that has beenused a lot professionally and
also maybe just forentertainment, is their image
(14:22):
generation, and it can generateincredibly detailed, high
quality images just based offyour prompt and how detailed
your prompt is, of course but Ithink people are.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Yeah, we've all seen those online.
Oh yeah, it's interesting theand videos too.
Speaker 5 (14:40):
I don't know chat.
Gpt does videos, but they havea video feature is a little bit
behind in comparison to, like,google has a really good video
feature right now, and so Iguess just my point is, with all
of these a lot of people, Ithink, talking about marketing
or like using this toolspecifically, for social media
(15:01):
blog posts.
I mean they're saving time onhaving to go out and take photos
or videos for whatever they'reposting.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
That's a practical application, thank you.
Speaker 5 (15:12):
What else?
Speaker 3 (15:12):
Social media is inundated.
I don't know how Webster alwaysadds a word of the year or a
phrase.
I could see AI slop being addedvery soon so you call that slop
.
These fake videos and picturesof things.
Well, people are making quite abit of money doing it.
(15:33):
They'll set up automatedworkflows that are just pumping
out automated, ai-generatedvideos and publishing them.
One of the most popular ones isa Yeti that's vlogging through
the woods or the mountains.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
But those are obviously more silly.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
But, it is kind of funny, right it is.
It's hilarious.
Are the babies talking?
We've all seen a million ofthose, right?
Speaker 3 (15:59):
But more practical.
More practical Within saleslead generations is rapidly
becoming an automated process.
How would AI help with that?
So, through a combination ofcrawling, scraping using
LinkedIn connections, and thenyou already mentioned AI voice,
(16:21):
that could be very rapidlybecoming a first touchpoint Like
a prospecting tool basicallyyeah, but maybe it's qualifying
the leads Right.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Connor tells it what to do properly, yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
Cold calling with AI to get a first touchpoint, or at
least emails written by AI.
That's just blasting out likeexpanding this casting a huge
net for lead generation.
It's definitely more quantityover quality at that point.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Well, when you got people sitting there on the
phone spinning the dial ahundred times, a day that's a
quantity over quality deal too,I mean that ain't always great,
we all know right.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
Yeah, it's like it has the same implications as
everything that we practicedbefore.
Yeah, you know, if you buildout a huge call center and
you're calling people and yourlead gen ratio is one out of
every 10 or 20 customers thatyou get through to.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
But you're still trying to make that happen in
such a high volume way.
But this is the same practice,right?
Except?
Speaker 3 (17:24):
with one person, except with one person, except
with one person.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Yeah, that's very interesting.
So your cost is a lot lower,however it is, and their
turnover is zero, right, becausethose people turn over all the
time.
They need a lot of training.
Speaker 4 (17:34):
But the thing is, is at the end of the day, does it
really work?
That's the question, yeah, youknow and so believe for a lot of
small business owners is wheredo I start?
Like, what's the really becausedo?
Speaker 2 (17:50):
you want to start fruit right.
Speaker 4 (17:51):
Well, do you want to start and build out a huge call
center?
Is that really what you need tobe doing?
Or do you really need to honein on exactly who are your
prospects, because you can useai to really take a bunch of
mass information, bring it downto a very direct, exact type of
person and then personalize thatoutreach.
Going back to the soft skillsthing, which it's going to be
(18:13):
interesting, you know, and mybelief is a little bit more
about, bring all the informationdown into that and then still
apply, because I want to have ahuman touch to it.
I want to be the person to knowwho I'm reaching out to.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Yeah, you want to be able to apply your experience
and common sense and knowledgeand my soft skills to it.
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
And I feel like that's very powerful and it gets
me where I'm trying to get toand I can also which to me is
another big thing about AI I cansense my place, like I can feel
the ground underneath my feetas I take steps Right when a lot
of my experience has been withAI.
It's like out in the A blackbox.
It's a black box.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Yeah, it's a total mystery.
What's going on?
Speaker 5 (18:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (18:55):
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Speaker 1 (19:10):
That's a good point, but let's go back to this like
automated prospecting thing justfor the sake of discussion.
As a small business owner,let's just say I've got a
business, I sell storm windowsor whatever, right.
And I got like five guys backthere chain smoking in this room
, you know, dialing away,looking like they're in the
(19:31):
boiler room of Glen Gary, glenRoss, right.
Speaker 4 (19:34):
Love it Raining outside.
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
So you know I'm tired of these guys.
They don't do a very good job.
I have constant turnover.
We're not getting enough leads,so I want to use AI for my
storm window company to do this.
Where do I go?
Who do I go to?
What are the just?
What do I do?
Yeah, there's.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
If I was a business owner wanting that.
There's a whole industry that'sgrowing rapidly.
I guess you would just call itlike AI consulting.
There's one person, two personteams that are growing and a lot
of times they're using these AItools to gather leads, reach
(20:19):
out to small businesses.
For those purposes of, I wantto build your workflow.
I see you have this kind ofbusiness.
Here are the types of workflowsI have experience building.
I can build you an automatedtool.
Speaker 4 (20:34):
It'll be an initial setup fee and then X amount a
month to maintain it, and thoseare popping up all over the
place and would you agree, likeand so on, that, yeah, open ai I
saw recently started aconsulting arm of their business
, right, yeah, but this sameapplication, right, if I have a
this, this, uh, this company,small company, I wouldn't want
(20:58):
to try to reach out to openAIand use their service.
Right, that's like going toOmnicom or Publis' group and
trying to use them as an adagency for my small business.
But I would reach out to a soloentrepreneur that's building a
business.
It's probably a better step.
Yep, absolutely, because it'sthe same principle, though you
get a little bit more attention.
Maybe they're a startup,they're being eager in an
(21:20):
entrepreneurial sense andthey're trying to get a client
and build their business.
Where am I going to find thisperson?
So, where would you find aperson like that?
Like, is there a resource or doyou just start?
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Yeah, I mean it's still relatively new.
So, especially in an area likenorthwest Arkansas where it's
not necessarily a huge tech hubthere's not a lot huge tech hub.
There's not a lot of dot AIsaround here that needs a change.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
But right, I mean, it's getting better every day.
We only got one thing we got,you know, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
, yeah, yeah.
Where's the phone book forthese?
Speaker 3 (21:59):
for the other, where are these guys?
I mean you, there's redditsomething or subreddits that
people are dying to make money.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
There's great information on Reddit every time
.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Yeah, I know right, it is becoming very saturated
very quickly because people seea quick dollar.
And they're self-proclaimedexperts and they're
self-proclaimed experts, andit's similar to web development,
where, early on, if you neededa website built, your options
were to go to school and learnto code or to hire someone to do
(22:35):
it for you, right, yeah, thereare countless tools Wix,
squarespace, weebly all of theseones that can build sites for
you and you don't have to knowone line of code, and that is
the direction AI automation isgoing as well.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
It's headed in that way, so like the canned sort of
solutions or I hate that word,but applications.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
Well, I think a lot of the mystery here is that AI
is in that start.
It's literally in the startupsector, right the whole industry
.
So you haven't?
I don't think you've.
I've been seeing moreentrepreneurs starting these
consulting businesses, butthey're right now.
They're able to garner thebusiness they need in a lot of
(23:20):
the developers' black holeconversations, like in Reddit
and other places.
Right these forums that no oneelse goes to except the dev
folks.
However, you're going to startseeing them exposing themselves
into more mainstream, like thesocial media platforms,
announcing their business.
They're going to have bona fidetop entities created, but
(23:40):
that's just now starting tohappen.
Right Like to your point,northwest Arkansas no, there's
not a lot of ai companies, but Ican imagine here in the near
future that you're going tostart having folks that are
starting their own business todo AI consulting.
And then I see it's going tostart diversifying to
specialists in certain sectors,everything from manufacturing to
restaurants, to Right wherethey've found solutions that
(24:02):
they then repeat or refine.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Go deep into the niche.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
Yeah, in that vertical industry, vertical
Right.
Speaker 4 (24:09):
Makes sense.
I think a lot of the good newsto this is okay.
So if you're listening and youhave your own business and
you're not leveraging AI rightnow, you don't know where to
start.
I think there's some comfort inknowing like for yourself like
Mark is a good example there issome comfort in the upcoming
next time period, within a shorttime period the next six months
(24:30):
or a year that there'll be someresources.
There'll start being someresources that you know, that
you can talk to, that can thenconsult, just like a website.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Exactly like a website Interesting.
So can we go back to ourearlier topic though?
Yeah, what other applications?
So the prospecting that's one.
Give us some other things thatbusinesses are using the AI for.
Speaker 3 (24:53):
Yeah, so there's just overall strategy.
Ai is going to write strategy.
I don't think it's going to be.
I don't think you should do100% written by AI.
In all of these we talk about ahuman in the loop.
It's an AI-assisted, whetherthat's building out a content
(25:15):
strategy or a marketing strategyfor a new product release.
Speaker 4 (25:19):
Pricing strategy.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
Pricing strategies.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Now.
The pricing does make a lot ofsense, though, because you can
go out there and it gathers up alot of information for you
Instantly.
Yeah, so that I have seen.
That's a good point.
Speaker 4 (25:31):
I like that, I think that there's a lot of like what
my experience has been as anadopter.
Right is like you start withone place and then you start
seeing other uses yeah exactly.
it starts kind of like, okay,and, but you do realize that you
, as the prompter, like, you'rethe person that's coaching this
and you're directing, you're thedirector of the movie, you know
(25:53):
, and it's starting, and, butyou keep going down in these,
these, these channels, and thenyou start seeing how it can be
useful and I do think that, asan entrepreneur or small
business owner, right like, isit my job to build out an entire
AI workflow, you know, for thecall center back-end process?
Probably not.
Like, my time is better spentto maybe be using it as strategy
(26:16):
and research and then hire outfor the execution of the
workflow, right, right?
Speaker 1 (26:22):
Well, it's very interesting.
I'm glad you mentioned thatpricing because I was talking
with a friend of mine the otherday who's very high level in one
of our major retail companies,whose name I won't mention.
But he was telling me they tooka product that they sell and
said compare our product to allother products that compete with
(26:44):
it and it got amazing.
He goes.
Normally this would take, likesomebody, like 10 days to write
this up and he goes justinstantly.
Better information, all thepricing, the qualities,
everything All in one place, oneneat, tidy package.
So that's a really cool idea.
(27:04):
A small business owner could dothat 100% Right With their
offering.
Speaker 4 (27:07):
That is case in point .
That is, I think that when wetalk like there's a very
intimidating thing to say, okay,start adopting AI and using it.
Yeah, there is.
It's like what the hell do Ieven start?
But that, right, there isexactly where you start.
That's how you start.
That's what it means to startadopting and using it.
Right, because if you don't, ifyou turn the cheek and you
(27:28):
resist and you just keep doingwhat you're doing, that 10 days
worth of work, somebody elsethat's right next to you, that's
in the same position is doingit in 10 minutes.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Right, exactly, and that is the breakthrough doing
it in 10 minutes, right, exactly, and that is the breakthrough.
Yeah, it's kind of you know.
Again, to go back to theanalogies and speaking of
architects, you know I was outthere in the era when people did
everything.
They drew it all manually youknow, ink on linen, you know
that's freaking cool man.
But and then, when CAD startedcoming into play, there were all
(28:01):
those old guys who were likethat's no good, you can't design
anything on a computer.
You've got to be able to draw.
Okay, yeah, of course they'refreaking total dinosaurs at this
point.
Speaker 3 (28:10):
Right.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
It's, you know, cad absolutely took over, and then
we got into 3D, and then we gotinto 3D visualization and yada,
yada, yada.
Today it's being used forthings like you know, concept
design.
Yeah, I need a 40,000 squarefoot building, you know, on two
levels on this site.
Speaker 3 (28:31):
Give me a scheme.
Yeah, it's AI's doing it.
Yeah, ai and 3d modeling isblowing up too.
Speaker 6 (28:35):
It's crazy yeah, so but what you don't want to be,
that you don't want to be thatguy.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
That's the ink on linen, I guess, is what you're
saying.
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 4 (28:46):
Or you can be, but you need to know how to set that
type of business up.
It's a very artisan typebusiness.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Yeah, that may not be an entrepreneurial venture.
It's not that scalable, that'sthe difference.
Speaker 4 (28:58):
Right, yeah, now you might be able to make money I
mean, you could be superblyvaluable in some way but I think
that you need to know whatdirection you're going, and if
that's what you want to do, thenso be it.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
That's a good point.
I work with another businesswhere we've got somebody in
marketing that uses AIextensively and honestly, I feel
like the quality of the writingis deteriorated, that
creativity is being reducedthrough a desire to basically
(29:33):
automate everything.
How do you combat that?
And yet this guy's got the keysto the marketing machine.
Speaker 3 (29:41):
That is a real big challenge.
And going back to just theeducation background too, that's
teachers still very in tunewith that world.
That's what they're worriedabout.
A ton too.
It's just are our studentsgoing to be able to think for
themselves?
Speaker 5 (29:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
And so, yeah, I'm very against solely using AI and
just like copying and pasting aresult and submitting it Like
it needs to be a partnership.
It's the same thing in softwareengineering it needs to be
paired programming, like ifyou're just automatically
deploying AI code, you're goingto run into a lot of problems.
(30:23):
Same thing for content creators.
You know it's going to continueto get better, but it's still
very recognizable and especiallyif you're paying attention to
it, like this is definitelywritten by ai and it's.
It doesn't have that humantouch to it exactly, yeah, it
(30:45):
starts to lose um yeah, itstarts to lose um, a luster.
Speaker 4 (30:53):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it does, and I think I think that
that's you know.
I mean, let's be honest, likeif I had, if my life was just
set up completely to beautomated, I would be extremely
bored, yes, and I would have nohonor or integrity.
You know, not talking aboutelon and all the things about
him, but but I did watch a videoof him and one of my favorite
statements was he said therewill be a time where everything
(31:14):
is basically provided for you.
Yeah, like food is going to beso inexpensive, housing is
inexpensive, he goes, but thereal problem is what are you
going to do when you?
don't have to work, because workis an important part of our
identity.
Yeah, that's the truth to that.
(31:35):
But I think that to hold on tothat truth as you go through
this evolution is important,because you need to know you're
not trying to automate your life.
You're trying to expedite youropportunities right, and it
needs a coach.
You need to give direction andyou have to find your fitting
into that your talent and yourstrategy, because that's where
the genius comes in.
(31:55):
You know it comes in whensomebody has a vision, they can
see something, they're excitedabout what they're doing,
they're fitting a market needand using all the tools
available for them.
I mean, I feel like that that'sgoing to be definitely at least
the next ten years of whatwe're doing, right right yeah,
and and and you know but.
But participating in these toolsthat are available, like the
(32:16):
chat, gpt is the Gemini's, youknow the things are all out
there for the consumer base isextremely important.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
Like you have to start prompting, you have to
start playing with yeah, well,just like what you know Connor's
doing is so critical islearning how to query that thing
, that's right.
Learning how to ask it what youwant it to produce for you,
because you know, I'veexperimented with it like we all
(32:42):
have, you know and I found thatthings do improve when I refine
it and give it additionalinputs, but I prohibit my
students from using it in theirwriting.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
Now some people could say, well, that's dumb though.
Yeah, you know, I mean, I'mreally torn there.
Do I not want my students touse the latest tools that are
available to help them?
I mean, you know, it's likeI've had guest speakers come in
and go.
I don't you know, get your penand paper out, I don't want to
see anybody on their phones orcomputers.
(33:17):
Well, I keep all my notes in myphone, and I have for the last
20 years.
Speaker 6 (33:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
Okay, I go to board meetings, I'm on my phone.
I was on one board where theCEO kept saying Mark, you got to
put your phone away.
I'm like, no, I'm not going toput my phone away.
Okay, I won't be on the board.
Then that's fine with me,Because that's a tool I use.
That's right.
Why do I want to?
I don't need a big excuse me.
I don't need a big computer.
(33:42):
I don't need a big computer todo it.
I can write on my phone.
I'm fast.
So am I doing that to mystudents?
I guess by prohibiting themfrom using AI?
What do you guys think ScottCardani?
Speaker 5 (33:54):
16, I think, in an area of like writing educational
papers.
To me, that's where it's likeyou shouldn't use, in my opinion
, because what are they going tolearn at all?
Speaker 1 (34:12):
Exactly, they push a button From this subject.
Speaker 5 (34:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:15):
They may not even read the final thing that it
produces.
Speaker 5 (34:18):
And we've talked about this before.
You can even prompt it to saywrite me something that's
undetectable by AI detectors.
Speaker 1 (34:27):
Wow, I did not know that.
That is fascinating.
Speaker 2 (34:36):
Thanks for tuning into this episode of Big Talk
about Small Business.
If you have any questions orideas for upcoming shows, be
sure to head over to our website,
wwwbigtalkaboutsmallbusinesscomand click on the Ask the host
button for the chance to haveyour questions answered on the
show.
Stay connected with us onLinkedIn at Big Talk About Small
(34:57):
Business and be sure to headover to our website to read
articles, browse episodes andask questions about upcoming
shows.
As a business owner over the years.
Who's hired, let's say, peopleto develop software?
For me it's a black hole.
We never know as much as theyknow.
My brother, john, was the WPP.
There was $17 billion.
He's freaking consulting.
They tell you it's going to besix months and then it's going
(00:22):
to be another six months andit's just a a black hole.
I guess I feel like it could bethe same way with AI, except
the difference is that AI isgonna give you a product real
fast.
It just may not be a good one.
Here we are.
We're back with another episodeof the Big Talk About Small
(00:45):
Business, and we've got a coupleguests with us here Darrell
Bock Impromptu guests.
Steve Trang Impromptu Eric justinvited him in from the lobby.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Darrell Bock- that is not a lie, steve Trang.
That's very true, darrell Bock,that's 100% accurate, steve.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
Trang, well, we know these guys, though.
Darrell Bock, well, I know them.
Steve Trang, you know, I don'tknow these guys, you don't know
who they are.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
No, I just met these guys five minutes ago In the
lobby, yeah, and they're likelet's go, yeah, talking about
wives and stuff.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
I see these guys Give us some advice.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
No, I just saw these two hipsters with their ball
caps and their mustachesSpeaking of.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
Ron Burgundy Right, there you go.
Now it's a child of day, atnight, yeah, another role,
another real feral role.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Yeah, what is it with the mustaches, with these and
the four day beard growths?
I mean they all do it.
That's the first question ofthe podcast.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
That's a good point Josiah here, Is this Josiah?
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yeah, that's Josiah.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Yeah, and that's Connor.
Tell these guys who you are.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Yeah, I'm Josiah Ripplemeyer.
I work for Eric over at AdFury.
My title, which I think isgoing to get picked apart a
little bit, is an AI architect.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
He doesn't know any of our rules, yet I don't know
the rules.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
This is what happens when you pull someone in from
the lobby.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
That's a good point.
We try to avoid excessivecursing.
There will be some cursing, butwe stay away from certain curse
words.
We don't talk about politics,we don't talk about religion, we
don't talk about contentioussocial topics, and we wait for
the other person to finishbefore we speak.
You don't always do a good jobwith that.
Speaker 6 (02:30):
No no.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
That one's.
That's a little bit of a looserule.
Anyway, that's one of our rules.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Sorry, so you do work with Ed Fury.
You're an AI architect.
Yes, you know the architects.
The real architects hate that.
In fact, they're su.
Real architects hate that.
In fact, they're suing softwarepeople over that.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
I didn't know that.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Yeah, because to be an architect, you have to be to
call yourself an architect.
You can have a five-year degree, but you're not licensed.
You can't call yourself anarchitect.
You're an intern or you're adesigner.
So here we got these guys thatdon't even have an architectural
education.
Right, okay, they're computerjocks or whatever.
(03:11):
That's a boomer term, isn't it,computer jocks?
I don't think I've heard thatone.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
I like it.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
But anyway, okay.
So he's an AI architect.
We'll let him go with that, forright now we're going to come
back to you.
Not licensed.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
AI architect.
We'll let him go with that.
For right now we're going tocome back to you.
Not licensed AI architect.
I am comfortable with AIcomputer jock.
That's good.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
I know he didn't really want to use that term,
architect.
You forced him into it, I did.
Okay, you're trying to make itsound more esoteric than it is.
It's my fault.
I don't know a damn thing aboutAI, but we're going to get into
that in a minute.
Connor over here.
Yes, tell us about yourself.
Speaker 5 (03:48):
My name is Connor Callison.
I also work for Eric over atAdFury.
Josiah is my direct boss, okay,dang, and Eric is over everyone
Except.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
JS.
Speaker 5 (04:02):
Except JS.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
Yep.
So what do you do, connor, atthe?
I mean, what's your practice?
What do you do?
Speaker 5 (04:07):
so I'm a prompt engineer, so I do a lot of um,
talking with ai to get thedesired result that we're trying
to achieve, which I will nottalk about what we're doing over
there at the moment.
Okay, um, but yeah, basicallyjust continually prompting it,
(04:28):
or telling it different thingsto get a desired result is the
most simple explanation.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
It sounds like you're doing all the work.
What the heck is josiaharchitecting?
What do we need him for?
Speaker 4 (04:38):
he's architecting mark.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
I don't know what that means in this context
Planning, organizing, masterplanning.
Speaker 4 (04:44):
It is, it is a very big picture.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
It's a more traditional term.
It's closer like a back-endengineer for a software company,
but specifically within therealm of AI.
Speaker 4 (04:56):
So a lot of new roles , but it's really kind of let's
tap into really the discussiontoday, right, which is what is
AI doing to the entrepreneurial,the business landscape, like
it's a it's a pretty significantthing.
There's a lot of in.
I think there's a lot ofintimidation out there, a lot of
unknown, a lot of and it's nota certain industry in of itself.
(05:18):
You know, I like and honestlylike.
One of the best things I canattach it to as an analogy is
something similar to theIndustrial Revolution, right, I
mean you know we're automatingstuff, automating Dyeing up
shoes, a pair at a time Exactly,and I think it's really scary
for a lot of folks because it's,you know, the Industrial
Revolution really automated alot of the kind of more blue
(05:39):
collar manual labor work.
Speaker 6 (05:41):
Yeah, right.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
AI is revolutionizing a lot of the white-collar
strategic work.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Yeah, if you're a marketing consultant, you might
want to start thinking aboutgoing and getting your plumbing
license.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
So that's one decision, but the other one that
I think that we're going to tryto encourage folks right is
adaptation evolution.
Sure, you know again similar tothat revolution.
Try to encourage folks right isis adaptation evolution?
Yeah, no, like you can share,you know, again similar to that
revolution.
Like you can either bounce outand do something completely
different or you can startlearning the machines and how to
(06:14):
work those things, becausethere is a lot of practicality
that you can apply to thosethings.
Like you know what works anddoesn't work right, because we
see a lot of times in the newsof letting ai do its own thing
and it doesn't work right,because we see a lot of times in
the news of letting a yacht doits own thing, and it doesn't
really turn out very well, well,yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
well.
On the point, though, of justmarketing, people should be
worried.
I actually, just yesterday, metwith a recent college grad who
studied marketing, and he waspicking my brain about what.
What can he do to markethimself, as he's looking for
work in this changing landscapearound AI?
(06:50):
So it was basically like howcan I be utilizing AI to show
that I'm not behind the curvehere?
But that's exactly what you'resaying, yeah, yeah, you've got
to adapt.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
Here's what I've found Like.
I feel like that everybody anall entrepreneur, anybody
listening to the show, anybodyreally on the earth right now
needs to recognize that this isnot something that's impacting
one sector or another or oneperson or whatever.
Because I mean, I have 30 years, 20 something years in
experience in marketing.
This whole thing is like makingme completely change my all my
(07:28):
presumptions and all the youknow, I've spent a lot of time
in this arena, so, like in 20plus years, right, I'd like I
have to go.
Okay, wait a minute,everything's being reinvented.
Now, however, there's a lot ofcomfort in and where I'm sitting
to say, oh, I can apply allthese learnings and this
experience.
I have to help navigate and setup these workflows and what's
(07:50):
going on and become attuned tothat and to the recent grad.
We're in the same scenario, butwith different places, where we
start out with right, therecent grad.
The good news for them is thatthey can really start fresh and
they can really apply thatenergy and all this time into
(08:11):
what's going on with AI andstarting to use those tools and
making sure they understand.
But I think the answer on bothsides is you either jump in or
you fight change, which isopposite of entrepreneurship in
a lot of ways, right, I mean,like you have to.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Some businesses make it just by not changing anything
, but it's rare.
It is rare I mean that is astrategy you can follow.
I actually wrote an article onthat once.
It's called the Strategy ofChanging Absolutely Nothing.
I mean there's a 200-year-oldcompany in England that makes
shoes a pair at a time and, likeyou know, they got like 40
workers and the king of Englandwears their shoes and stuff.
(08:50):
Yeah, but that's a rarity okay,that's a rarity.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
That is fair.
But what I like about thatthough, mark, and what I'm kind
of, I'll let you guys talk alittle bit.
But I get excited about thisbecause I do believe that, in
spite of all this mass changegoing on with AI and how
everything's being impacted,there is going to be this
artisan side.
Yes, there is Right.
The buy local, the artisan, youstill have the painter, that's
(09:15):
the genius that comes out.
I mean, all those things willlive on.
I think they might be even morevaluable as time goes on.
I agree, I completely agree.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
But back on this young guy, though, I just want
to say something.
I read an article recently onLinkedIn where somebody writes
in it's like I don't know, youknow, what should I encourage my
kid to do in college?
Yada, yada, yada with AI andall these changes and everything
.
And the answer somebody gave it, but you know, was basically
(09:45):
and I totally agree with thisfocus on the things that are not
impacted by AI, like yourverbal communication skills,
your ability to maintainrelationships, your
interpersonal skills.
Those things aren't going to goaway.
Those are always going to bevalued, and you can learn the
technologies that you need andadapt.
(10:07):
Adapt, it's not like go intogeotechnical engineering, right,
suzy?
That's going to be a hot careerfor the next 20 years, and
that's I mean.
Who says college educationshould be vocational training?
Speaker 3 (10:20):
you know, it's.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
It teaches you how to think and act and communicate.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
I love how you say that my original background was
actually in education and Itaught during COVID.
And do you see the soft skillsjust deteriorating in?
Speaker 1 (10:41):
students Yep.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
Especially within COVID, and then the prevalence
of just communicating onlineonly and then even just using
chat.
Gpt is your best friend.
Yes it's just, those softskills are just deteriorating
really quickly and they're goingto be even more important and
easier to just set yourselfapart.
This you can't.
Just you know, know.
(11:04):
I've joked and said like promptengineering is a good title,
but it's quickly becoming likeequivalent to just being able to
use Microsoft Word, likeeveryone should be able to do
that.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
But just because you can use Microsoft Word doesn't
make you a good writer does itRight, yes or if you can use a
graphic design program.
It doesn't mean you're a goodgraphic designer.
I mean it's like I could see,like what Connor does over here
is super valuable, and if you dohave like a really good
communication skill set, it willhelp you phrase these queries,
(11:40):
or whatever we want to call them, properly to get what you
really want, don't?
Speaker 3 (11:46):
you think, yeah, as a guy with some education
background, yeah, I mean, butyou're going to need to be able
to show that you can do it.
And you know, just saying I'm aprompt engineer is going to
lose a lot of value.
Speaker 6 (12:00):
Sure, I understand.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
It's going to become completely saturated.
So it's more like show me whatyou've built.
You know that kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Well, we get that with graphic design.
I mean, eric, you know, I meanwe've been hiring graphic
designers for 40 years.
It's like I'm a graphic artist.
Whenever I see that, I'm likeokay, okay.
And then you look at theirstuff and it looks like shit,
yeah, okay, yeah, I mean no,you're not.
You know how to use PageMakeror whatever is used today.
You know, yeah, but you suckyeah.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
Well, I think the thing is it's kind of parallel
to what has always happened.
Right, you can be a graphicdesigner, but then can you be a
creative director.
Yeah Right, there's anotherlevel to that.
You know the soft skill thing.
You know it's like how do youcommunicate, how do you lead
other people, how do you leadprojects, how do you lead
business, how do you, you know,build that infrastructure and be
able to actually have thosetypes of relationships to make
(12:57):
things actually happen?
And I see, like I think this isa really good point those soft
skills right, like I guess onestatement might be with AI
coming in, do not forsake thesoft skills Right.
And actually you need to studyself-learn.
This is an opportunity for youto graduate and take those
(13:18):
things to a higher level, whileeverything else is kind of being
levelized in a lot of ways.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Yeah, right.
Well, you two guys are in theheat of the battle out there.
Just tell us, like, what aresome applications that people
are really using AI for today?
I mean, we all know, likecustomer service, there's a
million applications for itthere.
You don't even know who thehell you're talking to.
I'm sure I was talking to AIthe other day with American
(13:44):
Airlines.
In fact, I asked it if it wasAI and I didn't get a response
which told me it was AI.
Speaker 5 (13:49):
Yeah, right.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
But so what are some applications that you all are
seeing and where it's reallygetting rapidly adopted?
Speaker 5 (14:00):
Yeah, I mean one that you all have heard of and
everyone has heard of is ChatGPT, and within ChatGPT there's a
lot of different capabilities,and I think one within the last
couple of months that has beenused a lot professionally and
also maybe just forentertainment, is their image
(14:22):
generation, and it can generateincredibly detailed, high
quality images just based offyour prompt and how detailed
your prompt is, of course but Ithink people are.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Yeah, we've all seen those online.
Oh yeah, it's interesting theand videos too.
Speaker 5 (14:40):
I don't know chat.
Gpt does videos, but they havea video feature is a little bit
behind in comparison to, like,google has a really good video
feature right now, and so Iguess just my point is, with all
of these a lot of people, Ithink, talking about marketing
or like using this toolspecifically, for social media
(15:01):
blog posts.
I mean they're saving time onhaving to go out and take photos
or videos for whatever they'reposting.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
That's a practical application, thank you.
Speaker 5 (15:12):
What else?
Speaker 3 (15:12):
Social media is inundated.
I don't know how Webster alwaysadds a word of the year or a
phrase.
I could see AI slop being addedvery soon so you call that slop
.
These fake videos and picturesof things.
Well, people are making quite abit of money doing it.
(15:33):
They'll set up automatedworkflows that are just pumping
out automated, ai-generatedvideos and publishing them.
One of the most popular ones isa Yeti that's vlogging through
the woods or the mountains.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
But those are obviously more silly.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
But, it is kind of funny, right it is.
It's hilarious.
Are the babies talking?
We've all seen a million ofthose, right?
Speaker 3 (15:59):
But more practical.
More practical Within saleslead generations is rapidly
becoming an automated process.
How would AI help with that?
So, through a combination ofcrawling, scraping using
LinkedIn connections, and thenyou already mentioned AI voice,
(16:21):
that could be very rapidlybecoming a first touchpoint Like
a prospecting tool basicallyyeah, but maybe it's qualifying
the leads Right.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Connor tells it what to do properly, yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
Cold calling with AI to get a first touchpoint, or at
least emails written by AI.
That's just blasting out likeexpanding this casting a huge
net for lead generation.
It's definitely more quantityover quality at that point.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Well, when you got people sitting there on the
phone spinning the dial ahundred times, a day that's a
quantity over quality deal too,I mean that ain't always great,
we all know right.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
Yeah, it's like it has the same implications as
everything that we practicedbefore.
Yeah, you know, if you buildout a huge call center and
you're calling people and yourlead gen ratio is one out of
every 10 or 20 customers thatyou get through to.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
But you're still trying to make that happen in
such a high volume way.
But this is the same practice,right?
Except?
Speaker 3 (17:24):
with one person, except with one person, except
with one person.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Yeah, that's very interesting.
So your cost is a lot lower,however it is, and their
turnover is zero, right, becausethose people turn over all the
time.
They need a lot of training.
Speaker 4 (17:34):
But the thing is, is at the end of the day, does it
really work?
That's the question, yeah, youknow and so believe for a lot of
small business owners is wheredo I start?
Like, what's the really becausedo?
Speaker 2 (17:50):
you want to start fruit right.
Speaker 4 (17:51):
Well, do you want to start and build out a huge call
center?
Is that really what you need tobe doing?
Or do you really need to honein on exactly who are your
prospects, because you can useai to really take a bunch of
mass information, bring it downto a very direct, exact type of
person and then personalize thatoutreach.
Going back to the soft skillsthing, which it's going to be
(18:13):
interesting, you know, and mybelief is a little bit more
about, bring all the informationdown into that and then still
apply, because I want to have ahuman touch to it.
I want to be the person to knowwho I'm reaching out to.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Yeah, you want to be able to apply your experience
and common sense and knowledgeand my soft skills to it.
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
And I feel like that's very powerful and it gets
me where I'm trying to get toand I can also which to me is
another big thing about AI I cansense my place, like I can feel
the ground underneath my feetas I take steps Right when a lot
of my experience has been withAI.
It's like out in the A blackbox.
It's a black box.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Yeah, it's a total mystery.
What's going on?
Speaker 5 (18:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (18:55):
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Speaker 1 (19:10):
That's a good point, but let's go back to this like
automated prospecting thing justfor the sake of discussion.
As a small business owner,let's just say I've got a
business, I sell storm windowsor whatever, right.
And I got like five guys backthere chain smoking in this room
, you know, dialing away,looking like they're in the
(19:31):
boiler room of Glen Gary, glenRoss, right.
Speaker 4 (19:34):
Love it Raining outside.
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
So you know I'm tired of these guys.
They don't do a very good job.
I have constant turnover.
We're not getting enough leads,so I want to use AI for my
storm window company to do this.
Where do I go?
Who do I go to?
What are the just?
What do I do?
Yeah, there's.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
If I was a business owner wanting that.
There's a whole industry that'sgrowing rapidly.
I guess you would just call itlike AI consulting.
There's one person, two personteams that are growing and a lot
of times they're using these AItools to gather leads, reach
(20:19):
out to small businesses.
For those purposes of, I wantto build your workflow.
I see you have this kind ofbusiness.
Here are the types of workflowsI have experience building.
I can build you an automatedtool.
Speaker 4 (20:34):
It'll be an initial setup fee and then X amount a
month to maintain it, and thoseare popping up all over the
place and would you agree, likeand so on, that, yeah, open ai I
saw recently started aconsulting arm of their business
, right, yeah, but this sameapplication, right, if I have a
this, this, uh, this company,small company, I wouldn't want
(20:58):
to try to reach out to openAIand use their service.
Right, that's like going toOmnicom or Publis' group and
trying to use them as an adagency for my small business.
But I would reach out to a soloentrepreneur that's building a
business.
It's probably a better step.
Yep, absolutely, because it'sthe same principle, though you
get a little bit more attention.
Maybe they're a startup,they're being eager in an
(21:20):
entrepreneurial sense andthey're trying to get a client
and build their business.
Where am I going to find thisperson?
So, where would you find aperson like that?
Like, is there a resource or doyou just start?
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Yeah, I mean it's still relatively new.
So, especially in an area likenorthwest Arkansas where it's
not necessarily a huge tech hubthere's not a lot huge tech hub.
There's not a lot of dot AIsaround here that needs a change.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
But right, I mean, it's getting better every day.
We only got one thing we got,you know, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
, yeah, yeah.
Where's the phone book forthese?
Speaker 3 (21:59):
for the other, where are these guys?
I mean you, there's redditsomething or subreddits that
people are dying to make money.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
There's great information on Reddit every time
.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Yeah, I know right, it is becoming very saturated
very quickly because people seea quick dollar.
And they're self-proclaimedexperts and they're
self-proclaimed experts, andit's similar to web development,
where, early on, if you neededa website built, your options
were to go to school and learnto code or to hire someone to do
(22:35):
it for you, right, yeah, thereare countless tools Wix,
squarespace, weebly all of theseones that can build sites for
you and you don't have to knowone line of code, and that is
the direction AI automation isgoing as well.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
It's headed in that way, so like the canned sort of
solutions or I hate that word,but applications.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
Well, I think a lot of the mystery here is that AI
is in that start.
It's literally in the startupsector, right the whole industry
.
So you haven't?
I don't think you've.
I've been seeing moreentrepreneurs starting these
consulting businesses, butthey're right now.
They're able to garner thebusiness they need in a lot of
(23:20):
the developers' black holeconversations, like in Reddit
and other places.
Right these forums that no oneelse goes to except the dev
folks.
However, you're going to startseeing them exposing themselves
into more mainstream, like thesocial media platforms,
announcing their business.
They're going to have bona fidetop entities created, but
(23:40):
that's just now starting tohappen.
Right Like to your point,northwest Arkansas no, there's
not a lot of ai companies, but Ican imagine here in the near
future that you're going tostart having folks that are
starting their own business todo AI consulting.
And then I see it's going tostart diversifying to
specialists in certain sectors,everything from manufacturing to
restaurants, to Right wherethey've found solutions that
(24:02):
they then repeat or refine.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Go deep into the niche.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
Yeah, in that vertical industry, vertical
Right.
Speaker 4 (24:09):
Makes sense.
I think a lot of the good newsto this is okay.
So if you're listening and youhave your own business and
you're not leveraging AI rightnow, you don't know where to
start.
I think there's some comfort inknowing like for yourself like
Mark is a good example there issome comfort in the upcoming
next time period, within a shorttime period the next six months
(24:30):
or a year that there'll be someresources.
There'll start being someresources that you know, that
you can talk to, that can thenconsult, just like a website.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Exactly like a website Interesting.
So can we go back to ourearlier topic though?
Yeah, what other applications?
So the prospecting that's one.
Give us some other things thatbusinesses are using the AI for.
Speaker 3 (24:53):
Yeah, so there's just overall strategy.
Ai is going to write strategy.
I don't think it's going to be.
I don't think you should do100% written by AI.
In all of these we talk about ahuman in the loop.
It's an AI-assisted, whetherthat's building out a content
(25:15):
strategy or a marketing strategyfor a new product release.
Speaker 4 (25:19):
Pricing strategy.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
Pricing strategies.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Now.
The pricing does make a lot ofsense, though, because you can
go out there and it gathers up alot of information for you
Instantly.
Yeah, so that I have seen.
That's a good point.
Speaker 4 (25:31):
I like that, I think that there's a lot of like what
my experience has been as anadopter.
Right is like you start withone place and then you start
seeing other uses yeah exactly.
it starts kind of like, okay,and, but you do realize that you
, as the prompter, like, you'rethe person that's coaching this
and you're directing, you're thedirector of the movie, you know
(25:53):
, and it's starting, and, butyou keep going down in these,
these, these channels, and thenyou start seeing how it can be
useful and I do think that, asan entrepreneur or small
business owner, right like, isit my job to build out an entire
AI workflow, you know, for thecall center back-end process?
Probably not.
Like, my time is better spentto maybe be using it as strategy
(26:16):
and research and then hire outfor the execution of the
workflow, right, right?
Speaker 1 (26:22):
Well, it's very interesting.
I'm glad you mentioned thatpricing because I was talking
with a friend of mine the otherday who's very high level in one
of our major retail companies,whose name I won't mention.
But he was telling me they tooka product that they sell and
said compare our product to allother products that compete with
(26:44):
it and it got amazing.
He goes.
Normally this would take, likesomebody, like 10 days to write
this up and he goes justinstantly.
Better information, all thepricing, the qualities,
everything All in one place, oneneat, tidy package.
So that's a really cool idea.
(27:04):
A small business owner could dothat 100% Right With their
offering.
Speaker 4 (27:07):
That is case in point .
That is, I think that when wetalk like there's a very
intimidating thing to say, okay,start adopting AI and using it.
Yeah, there is.
It's like what the hell do Ieven start?
But that, right, there isexactly where you start.
That's how you start.
That's what it means to startadopting and using it.
Right, because if you don't, ifyou turn the cheek and you
(27:28):
resist and you just keep doingwhat you're doing, that 10 days
worth of work, somebody elsethat's right next to you, that's
in the same position is doingit in 10 minutes.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Right, exactly, and that is the breakthrough doing
it in 10 minutes, right, exactly, and that is the breakthrough.
Yeah, it's kind of you know.
Again, to go back to theanalogies and speaking of
architects, you know I was outthere in the era when people did
everything.
They drew it all manually youknow, ink on linen, you know
that's freaking cool man.
But and then, when CAD startedcoming into play, there were all
(28:01):
those old guys who were likethat's no good, you can't design
anything on a computer.
You've got to be able to draw.
Okay, yeah, of course they'refreaking total dinosaurs at this
point.
Speaker 3 (28:10):
Right.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
It's, you know, cad absolutely took over, and then
we got into 3D, and then we gotinto 3D visualization and yada,
yada, yada.
Today it's being used forthings like you know, concept
design.
Yeah, I need a 40,000 squarefoot building, you know, on two
levels on this site.
Speaker 3 (28:31):
Give me a scheme.
Yeah, it's AI's doing it.
Yeah, ai and 3d modeling isblowing up too.
Speaker 6 (28:35):
It's crazy yeah, so but what you don't want to be,
that you don't want to be thatguy.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
That's the ink on linen, I guess, is what you're
saying.
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 4 (28:46):
Or you can be, but you need to know how to set that
type of business up.
It's a very artisan typebusiness.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Yeah, that may not be an entrepreneurial venture.
It's not that scalable, that'sthe difference.
Speaker 4 (28:58):
Right, yeah, now you might be able to make money I
mean, you could be superblyvaluable in some way but I think
that you need to know whatdirection you're going, and if
that's what you want to do, thenso be it.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
That's a good point.
I work with another businesswhere we've got somebody in
marketing that uses AIextensively and honestly, I feel
like the quality of the writingis deteriorated, that
creativity is being reducedthrough a desire to basically
(29:33):
automate everything.
How do you combat that?
And yet this guy's got the keysto the marketing machine.
Speaker 3 (29:41):
That is a real big challenge.
And going back to just theeducation background too, that's
teachers still very in tunewith that world.
That's what they're worriedabout.
A ton too.
It's just are our studentsgoing to be able to think for
themselves?
Speaker 5 (29:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
And so, yeah, I'm very against solely using AI and
just like copying and pasting aresult and submitting it Like
it needs to be a partnership.
It's the same thing in softwareengineering it needs to be
paired programming, like ifyou're just automatically
deploying AI code, you're goingto run into a lot of problems.
(30:23):
Same thing for content creators.
You know it's going to continueto get better, but it's still
very recognizable and especiallyif you're paying attention to
it, like this is definitelywritten by ai and it's.
It doesn't have that humantouch to it exactly, yeah, it
(30:45):
starts to lose um yeah, itstarts to lose um, a luster.
Speaker 4 (30:53):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it does, and I think I think that
that's you know.
I mean, let's be honest, likeif I had, if my life was just
set up completely to beautomated, I would be extremely
bored, yes, and I would have nohonor or integrity.
You know, not talking aboutelon and all the things about
him, but but I did watch a videoof him and one of my favorite
statements was he said therewill be a time where everything
(31:14):
is basically provided for you.
Yeah, like food is going to beso inexpensive, housing is
inexpensive, he goes, but thereal problem is what are you
going to do when you?
don't have to work, because workis an important part of our
identity.
Yeah, that's the truth to that.
(31:35):
But I think that to hold on tothat truth as you go through
this evolution is important,because you need to know you're
not trying to automate your life.
You're trying to expedite youropportunities right, and it
needs a coach.
You need to give direction andyou have to find your fitting
into that your talent and yourstrategy, because that's where
the genius comes in.
(31:55):
You know it comes in whensomebody has a vision, they can
see something, they're excitedabout what they're doing,
they're fitting a market needand using all the tools
available for them.
I mean, I feel like that that'sgoing to be definitely at least
the next ten years of whatwe're doing, right right yeah,
and and and you know but.
But participating in these toolsthat are available, like the
(32:16):
chat, gpt is the Gemini's, youknow the things are all out
there for the consumer base isextremely important.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
Like you have to start prompting, you have to
start playing with yeah, well,just like what you know Connor's
doing is so critical islearning how to query that thing
, that's right.
Learning how to ask it what youwant it to produce for you,
because you know, I'veexperimented with it like we all
(32:42):
have, you know and I found thatthings do improve when I refine
it and give it additionalinputs, but I prohibit my
students from using it in theirwriting.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
Now some people could say, well, that's dumb though.
Yeah, you know, I mean, I'mreally torn there.
Do I not want my students touse the latest tools that are
available to help them?
I mean, you know, it's likeI've had guest speakers come in
and go.
I don't you know, get your penand paper out, I don't want to
see anybody on their phones orcomputers.
(33:17):
Well, I keep all my notes in myphone, and I have for the last
20 years.
Speaker 6 (33:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
Okay, I go to board meetings, I'm on my phone.
I was on one board where theCEO kept saying Mark, you got to
put your phone away.
I'm like, no, I'm not going toput my phone away.
Okay, I won't be on the board.
Then that's fine with me,Because that's a tool I use.
That's right.
Why do I want to?
I don't need a big excuse me.
I don't need a big computer.
(33:42):
I don't need a big computer todo it.
I can write on my phone.
I'm fast.
So am I doing that to mystudents?
I guess by prohibiting themfrom using AI?
What do you guys think ScottCardani?
Speaker 5 (33:54):
16, I think, in an area of like writing educational
papers.
To me, that's where it's likeyou shouldn't use, in my opinion
, because what are they going tolearn at all?
Speaker 1 (34:12):
Exactly, they push a button From this subject.
Speaker 5 (34:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:15):
They may not even read the final thing that it
produces.
Speaker 5 (34:18):
And we've talked about this before.
You can even prompt it to saywrite me something that's
undetectable by AI detectors.
Speaker 1 (34:27):
Wow, I did not know that.
That is fascinating.
Speaker 2 (34:36):
Thanks for tuning into this episode of Big Talk
about Small Business.
If you have any questions orideas for upcoming shows, be
sure to head over to our website,
wwwbigtalkaboutsmallbusinesscomand click on the Ask the host
button for the chance to haveyour questions answered on the
show.
Stay connected with us onLinkedIn at Big Talk About Small
(34:57):
Business and be sure to headover to our website to read
articles, browse episodes andask questions about upcoming
shows.
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