As generative AI, gadgets and other technologies continue to advance, what's one way a small-business owner can better leverage tech to manage their busy schedule? What's helped you?
Below, small business owners from the YEC community share how they are leveraging generative AI to achieve maximum productivity.
Generative AI is remarkable at finding answers, summarizing content and making you more productive. Switching to GenAI based search engines like Perplexity AI from Google in Search gets you to the summarized answers faster with quick links for follow up reading. Using Gen AI to summarize longer content such as YouTube videos, small business regulations, contracts, analyze employment agreements, etc. identifies the information you need and whether you need to read the whole thing. Small business owners have to be an expert in so many things. Gen AI can help you focus on what's important so you can get back to running your business.
Trevor Sumner, Head of AI and Innovation, Raydiant
Small-business owners can massively improve their schedule management by using AI-powered personal assistants. Google Assistant, Siri, or Alexa excel at organizing daily tasks. They can set reminders, schedule appointments, and handle routine inquiries all through voice commands. This hands-free operation allows business owners to stay focused on critical tasks. They can also efficiently manage their time. Additionally, integration with smart devices and business applications creates a seamless ecosystem. It's for managing both personal and professional lives. My experience with AI assistants has streamlined mundane tasks. It has freed up valuable time for strategic planning. This option is best for its convenience. It also allows for effective multitasking in a fast-paced environment.
Blake Olson, Owner & CEO, Smart Prop Trader
Today, there are AI tools for just about anything and everything you need for your small business. From marketing and sales to drafting business plans and financial management. The key is to find which tools benefit your business the most without overcomplicating the day-to-day flow of tasks and processes. For example, a tool like Motion can help you organize your calendar by tracking your time and building itineraries. Or, if you find video important for your brand but you lack the time and need assistance, you can use an AI tool like Lumen5 to simplify the process. According to research, 41% of small businesses have found that AI helps them redirect their own time and employee time to higher-value work. Research different AI tools and find ones that allow your business to do just that.
Blair Thomas, Co-founder, eMerchantBroker
AI-powered chatbots have become a regular tool for me throughout the day. Honestly, I mostly use it as a brainstorming buddy. I share what I need to do and ask for guidance, and it usually has decent suggestions for things like scheduling and content planning. I also use it when I need a little additional information or context around specific topics. I don't think software like Bard or ChatGPT will ever fully replace human writing and reasoning. Still, it makes for a great assistant that can streamline complicated processes and simplify planning.
Chris Christoff, Co-Founder, MonsterInsights
Identify pattern productivity losses. Sync AI tools with your calendar to determine which meetings might be worth cutting down. Let AI determine your ideal schedule to bundle meetings and minimize downtime between them. That way, you will have longer blocks of focus time. These small changes add up and allow you to manage your day more seamlessly.
Firas Kittaneh, CEO & Co-founder, Amerisleep Mattress
Owning a business can be hectic, but Todoist has become my secret weapon for schedule management. Their AI prioritizes tasks, optimizes my day, and integrates seamlessly with my calendar. It's not just a to-do list; it's a smart time management tool that helps me focus on what matters most. By streamlining my daily workload with Todoist, I've freed up valuable time to drive strategic growth and innovation for my business.
Shay Berman, President, Digital Resource
Look for generative AI tools that focus on creating workflows for businesses. Tools like Copy.ai are built to scale your day-to-day activities, such as creating personalized emails for large lists of potential leads. Similarly, look for other AI-generative platforms geared towards scaling up and automating workflows. They offer your best chance of saving times while getting more done and helping you grow your business faster.
Blair Williams, CEO, MemberPress
A simple way to use generative AI is to leverage social media automation and AI platforms. They are online tools that will link to your multiple social media accounts from one dashboard, suggest social media post topics, draft those posts, and publish them. They literally do everything including finding the best days and times to post your content to social media content.
It's possible to create a fortnight or a month's worth of content and schedule it in half an hour. If this isn't a good example of optimizing your busy schedule, I don't know what is. A quick search on Google will help you find platforms to leverage and in no time at all, you'll find more time to focus on matters that need your attention for real.
Syed Balkhi, Co-Founder, WPBeginner
I think generative AI is great for brainstorming. I don’t think it’s ready to replace human writers yet. AI has a lot of scope for small businesses and it’s tempting to use AI for all your content needs. But, if your experience is anything like mine, you’ll spend just as much time editing and adding your own personality to copy as you would have done writing it in the first place. Instead, I would suggest using generative AI to help generate ideas. For example, I use a prompt such as ‘Give me 10 semantically relevant but unique topics under the main category of KEYWORD’ to help me come up with blog ideas. I also use generative AI before publishing. I use a prompt such as ‘Review the following content for grammatical errors and clarity of language. Suggest improvements for readability.’
Abhijeet Kaldate, Co-founder, Astra WordPress Theme