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How Small Businesses Are Successfully Using AI Right Now

AI Tactics for Small Business Growth

by Jen Lehner | Front Row AI Club

 

The Big Ideas

A quick recap of the key points from the session.

  • Stay flexible across platforms. Save your AI work as markdown files (the .md format) so you can move it between any AI tool if one changes or disappears.
  • Use meta-prompting. Instead of writing the perfect prompt yourself, ask the AI to write the prompt for you. Tell it what you want to do, then ask it for a good prompt.
  • Ask "is this your best work?" before you accept a final answer. The AI usually has a little more in the tank and will improve it.
  • Tell the AI to search the web before answering anything time-sensitive. These tools were trained up to a certain date and do not always know what is current.
  • AI is shifting from generative (you ask, it types) to agentic (you ask, it plans and does the work for you).
  • Pay for the one tool you use most. The paid tier gives you better quality, more memory, and full features. It is the cheapest employee you will ever hire.

Resources

Slide Deck
Claude Cowork Set-Up Guide
NotebookLM Starter Guide
Moving Between AI Tools

ToolsĀ Mentioned

  • Wispr Flow: A dictation tool. Press a button and talk, and it types clean text for you anywhere on your computer. It removes your filler words and side comments automatically.
  • Claude Chrome extension: A browser helper from Claude that can fill out long forms and do tasks on websites for you. It gets you most of the way there, then you review before submitting.
  • Google Workspace Studio: Build simple automations right inside Gmail. Example from the session: when an email comes in, Gemini drafts a reply for you to review. This needs a paid Google Workspace account with a business email.
  • Genspark: An AI agent that can make real phone calls for you, like ordering supplies or booking a reservation.
  • Manus: Another AI agent that can handle tasks the more common tools cannot.
  • NotebookLM: Upload your business documents and it acts like a consultant. It finds the gaps, draws connections, and gives feedback. It can also turn your content into audio summaries, videos, and slide decks.
  • Trello: A free project management board. Jen used it to organize AI-generated social posts before publishing. Any similar tool like Asana works too.

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