AI for Business: A Beginner's Guide to Unlocking its Potential

[00:00:00] Thank you for tuning in to WedPro Business Solutions. I'm your host, Kristina Stubblefield. I want you to stay with me for just a couple minutes on this episode, especially when I say the topic that I'm talking about and that is artificial intelligence AI, it's time to talk about it because it is a powerful tool.

Notice I said a powerful tool. It is not a replacement, a powerful tool to have in your toolbox. I've witnessed how it has been able to help wedding professionals. I've been doing some research and development, as well as utilizing some strategies with a core group.

I'd call them my beta group of wedding professionals to get feedback and really see results, and that is exactly what we've uncovered. As a matter of fact, we've uncovered a whole lot more. I want you to stay with me on this topic because a [00:01:00] lot of times people are making decisions in regards to AI based on what they're hearing in the news, what they're seeing on different, maybe news websites.

And I wanna share with you this, I bet you have used AI today without realizing it. I've said it now be saying, Kristina, no, absolutely not. I have not used it. I'm not talking about ChatGPT, I'm not talking about Jasper or the other wonderful AI softwares there are out there to use in your business and marketing. Maps and navigation.

How many of my listeners or those that are catching this on YouTube have used that today on their cell phone? My friends, that is AI. Let's talk about that just a little bit more, because I bet you've seen it in other places. How about facial detection or [00:02:00] recognition? Hmm, unlocking your phone.

Guess what? That's artificial intelligence. I'm not here to frustrate you. What I am here to do is to shine a light on this and say it is worth considering because of how many benefits there are for business. And right now we know in the wedding industry, you have to show up to be considered. When engaged couples are making their list of possible wedding vendors, if you don't come up online on whatever platform of their choosing, You're not going to be on the list for them to even consider.

You hear me be passionate about this because I am. It's taken me a while to really hone in on what I want my messaging to be, to my followers, my listeners, my clients and my future clients. My [00:03:00] friends, I have a lot of friends in this business. I'm a technology person. IT to the core, always, always, always passionate about saving people time, money, and resources when it comes to business and marketing, and that is why I knew the power of AI. I knew how beneficial it is going to be for wedding professionals and businesses in general. 

So I mentioned to you about maps. I also mentioned about facial recognition and detection. What about autocorrect? Let me say it louder for the people in the back autocorrect, how many of us use, autocorrect that's AI. and there's so many other things like, let me just share with you this, what about the search recommendations?

You know when you search something and it gives you what about these, or here's these ideas. That's AI, [00:04:00] my friends. And then also, if you've been on social media, you've reached out through customer service in some way, shape or form, you've probably encountered a chatbot. Most of the time that's artificial intelligence, AI, and I can keep going on and on, but my point is we've all been using this on a regular basis.

There's no reason to be scared about utilizing this tool in your business. Now there's some key words I'm using there tool, in my opinion, it's not a replacement, it is a tool. Maybe you want to have it review an email that's gonna go out. Maybe you want to write your about, maybe you want it to be easier to explain.

Maybe you want to share with your social media audience about what your business has to offer, but [00:05:00] you're just not sure exactly how to word it. I want to open up your mind and let you use these opportunities that are available to you now before you think, oh my gosh, how much does this software cost. There are softwares out there that you can use for free.

You've probably already heard about it ChatGPT. If you haven't heard about it, I would be very surprised, and that's okay if you haven't. But let's first talk about what is AI? So AI, and I'm gonna read this to you from the Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Now I'm gonna read this line for line. So here we go.

What is AI the theory and development of computer systems able to perform task that normally require human intelligence. Such [00:06:00] as visual perception, speech recognition, decision making, and translation between languages. Now, that is what the Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable said. So I want to give you an example.

I took that, description right there, and I ran it through ChatGPT. And here is what it said, artificial intelligence AI refers to the ability of machines to perform tasks that would normally require human intelligence, such as learning, problem solving, decision making, and natural language understanding.

AI technologies use algorithms and statistical models to analyze data and draw insights, enabling machines to automate process, recognize patterns and make predictions. In essence, AI is the [00:07:00] simulation of human intelligence in machines that can perform task automatically without explicit instructions.

Now, which one was easier to understand? Probably number two. That is an example of how AI which I said was ran through ChatGPT can be an assistant, a tool in your business to help explain what maybe you have struggled with explaining to your audience or are, or explaining it in a way that's easy to understand.

That is why I have taken my time to really develop. How I was going to share this out as a solution in the wedding industry. Why do I think it is so important for wedding professionals to take notice [00:08:00] of the benefits and the opportunities with AI? I'd like to share with you a few statistics. You know, I like numbers.

I've always said to all of my listeners, if I'm going to encourage my listeners, my audience or clients to invest their time, energy, effort, or money in something I want that backed up with data, and this, my friends right here, I hope, will open your eyes. To get to 1 million users. 1 million users. It took Netflix 3.5 years.

It took Twitter two years. It took Facebook 10 months, Spotify five months, Instagram 2.5 months, [00:09:00] ChatGPT five days. So for you all listening, what do I mean? Why is this important? Because in the wedding industry, you turn over clients. You have new leads, you have new clients come in. Now, some of you may have recurring clients or clients that you work with on events every year, but in the wedding industry, a lot of times with engaged couples, that audience changes over every year, 16, 18 months, and you're constantly pushing out your message to new people for those listening that may have been in the industry for a long time.

How do you explain what you do over and over again? What wording do you use with your social media? How do you come up with new content for your email newsletters, [00:10:00] ideas for videos, captioning your photos or videos For the wedding industry, a lot of your business and marketing have to do with content.

Wording writing, and I want to make it very clear. I know content writers out there, excellent content writers, and I will repeat what I have said multiple times throughout this episode. In my opinion, AI is not a replacement, it's an enhancement. It is a tool for your toolbox because the way we articulate, the way we share out our message.

We may understand it, we may think that it is very easy for our target audience to understand it, but is it written in a way that will grab someone's attention? Is it written in the best format to easily explain? I really want to dive more into this topic, [00:11:00] because a lot of people are already using these tools.

There are many, many AI tools out there ChatGPT offers a free version at the time of recording this. I haven't heard any rumblings about that changing. I just wanna say that at the time of this recording, there is a free option for ChatGPT and I have decided to do a free webinar and I want to really shed a light on this tool.

I know I said that before, but I want to start from the beginning, very basic. So I'm going to do Beginner's Guide to using Free AI Tool for your business. You can get all of the details in the show notes, or if you're watching this on YouTube, you can get a link to the webinar information. I am gonna do it live, but there will also be a recorded version available.[00:12:00] 

And if you're sitting there thinking, is this something for me? Here's what I would say to you. Are you someone that is not generating enough leads for your business? Are you overwhelmed or are you limited on time? Are you not reaching your target audience? Maybe you're struggling to create content? Do you question your online presence?

Do you have enough out there? Does it fully explain your business? Are you wanting to share more about events and the experience that you have, but you don't know where to start? Maybe you're just frustrated on where to show up online. You feel like you have to show up on every platform out there, this webinar is for you!

Even if you're just curious about AI or you want to get some tips or some strategies, this webinar is going to be for you. And I'm here to tell you that [00:13:00] there is no magic wand to show up on multiple places and make sure that everyone sees your business there isn't the best thing that you can do is show up on the platforms where your ideal clients or potential clients spend their time.

You hold the answer to that information. If your clients spend their time on LinkedIn, then that's the platform you need to be spending your time on for your business. And the reason I share this with you is I've had a lot of people say to me, okay, I can only post on Facebook and Instagram so much. If you have a tool, a free tool at that, that can help you create content quickly and effectively, then you can post more often on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, maybe LinkedIn is where you want to spend your time, but you don't know about writing [00:14:00] articles for LinkedIn.

Maybe you've heard me say how important Google is, and you know you need to blog for your business, but you don't know how to get started. Does a blog have a title? Does it have keywords? How do you close out a blog?

AI, I sit here and say this, and I wonder how long it will be before there's not a free option. But for those listening to be able to have a tool like this, and I say this because I've said I've been working with a group, a small group of beta testers that are wedding professionals, and what I brought to the table within two hours, what they ran with at our first session.

The ideas, the creativity, it was like opening a can and all of this stuff just came pouring out. I'm excited. This is the first time that I've really [00:15:00] felt like, oh my gosh, I can help people use this tool and make an incredible impact immediately in their business. That's how excited I am about this. I love technology.

It can be very overwhelming for some, but I assure you, if you can send a text message and you can send an email, you can use ChatGPT. It's that easy people. It is that easy, and I want you to be able to use this to share with people the great things about what your business has to offer, who you are, what your services are.

To do a recap about a wedding, a corporate event, the more you share with the world, with the community. The better opportunity you have to create an audience to create leads, and we all know that turns into sales. So I know it has taken me a little [00:16:00] while to really take on this topic, and I have a whole lot more to say about this, a whole lot more.

I've really been honing in on helping wedding professionals with their messaging, with their email sequence. And for those that do wedding shows or send newsletters by email, this software is gonna be your new best friend because it can really help you put together engaging content, keyword there, engaging content.

I've always referred to, you want to become a magnet. You want to draw people to your business, not just keep pushing your business. If you need a dj, if you need a wedding planner, or if you need a photographer, you want to become a magnet to pull people in to your business, and AI can help with that.

So I hope you've enjoyed this conversation. I know I'm going to get feedback and I welcome it. All you have to do is go to the [00:17:00] wedpropodcast.com. You can click the microphone and you can record a message to me. It will come straight to me, or you can hit the contact button and you can send me a message.

The last thing I would encourage you to do is if you're not part of my Facebook group, I encourage you to join it. I have a lot of information that I'm going to be sharing in there in regards to AI, other software, tips, strategies. All of that great information, and you can find a link in the show notes or you can see it at the description.

If you're watching this on YouTube, I hope you will consider signing up for the free webinar. The live one takes place on Monday, April 3rd, 12:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. As I mentioned before, if you cannot join live, go ahead and register and the recorded version will be emailed out to you. 

I look forward to hearing your all's feedback, and until next time, everyone [00:18:00] take care.