Reading time: 8 minutes
Published: September 7 2023
It seems like lately everybody is talking about AI, all the time. It also seems that AI is not just a trend that will be soon forgotten. Artificial intelligence is steadily becoming an integral part of our everyday life. There's no point in denying its powers and capabilities to make otherwise daunting tasks not so bad.
The biggest shift I have observed recently is that AI is no longer an exclusive solution, something that is out of reach for common people. More and more AI-powered tools are designed with small businesses and individuals in mind. And that's why, today I decided to give them a closer look.
Ever since the great breakthrough of ChatGPT and Midjourney, there have been many discussions about their usability in creative industries like graphic design and copywriting. Some say AI technology is going to take away jobs and basically destroy the labor market. Others consider it another threat in the uneven fight against fake news.
Although many of those discussions are extremely valid and AI-powered solutions can raise concerns rightfully. However, if you are a small business owner, don't let this discourse scare you.
Running a business as a solopreneur or a small business owner is really hard. It takes a lot of courage to face this challenge. AI can be your most loyal support in this battle for success. Without having to hire other people, rent an office space, and invest more and more money, you can have a professional, trained assistant with an AI algorithm to help you with whatever you might need an extra hand. Or brain in this case.
Let's take a closer look at the benefits.
Specific benefits depend on the kind of AI tool you decide to use. While I will show you a variety of AI tools and their use cases, here I would like to focus on benefits that are common for each and every one of them.
As a small business, you can leverage AI within Sales CRMs to automate lead scoring, track customer interactions, and provide personalized communication. It streamlines sales and marketing efforts while improving customer relationships.
Many AI tools are available at affordable prices or through subscription models. It makes them accessible to small businesses, even on tight budgets. Additionally, by automating tasks and processes with AI, you reduce the costs of extra labor and potential errors. For a small price, you can make lots of improvements in your business's processes and operations.
It's self-explanatory, but let's say it so that it's clear. AI takes the burden of many tasks off your shoulders. No matter if you're fully outsourcing some work to AI or just working with it, the results will be there faster and you will have so much more time.
AI solutions can often be scaled up or down as needed, allowing you to adapt to changing demands without significant upfront investments. If your business grows, that's great. Just buy another tier of your preferred AI tool. It's simple as that and once again very budget-friendly.
Artificial intelligence can be useful in many, many ways. The landscape of tools that use their powers is already very saturated and constantly grows. As I promised before, let's how it looks exactly from the small business perspective by looking at the the different types of AI-powered small biz tools.
AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants can engage with customers 24/7, answering frequently asked questions, assisting with product recommendations, and even processing orders. They enhance customer support and save time for both customers and you and your staff.
As a small business, you can leverage AI within CRMs to automate lead scoring, track customer interactions, and provide personalized communication. It streamlines sales and marketing efforts while improving customer relationships.
From analyzing subscriber behavior over automating responses to sending personalized emails, recommending products based on past purchases, and optimizing email timing for higher open and click-through rates. AI can do it all. It not only saves your time but also helps you make data-driven decisions.
AI automates lead generation by identifying potential customers, nurturing leads, and tailoring marketing content. It streamlines the sales funnel and boosts conversion rates. Combine it with CRM and email marketing automation and you will get a well-designed process for turning potential clients into clients.
Use AI to automate data entry, expense tracking, and financial analysis. It ensures financial accuracy and provides insights into cost-reduction opportunities. Tools like that make it easier for small businesses to manage their finances and make their tight budgets work.
Even though AI tools should help businesses avoid hiring another person, it's not always what's best. But you can still count on them in the recruitment process. Use AI-based HRIS software for screening resumes, conducting initial interviews, and identifying top candidates based on predefined criteria.
WebWave AI Writer
Generate your website copy with just one click.
WebWave AI Writer
Generate your website copy with just one click.
AI-generated content and social media scheduling tools can boost marketing efforts by creating engaging content, managing posting schedules, and analyzing audience engagement. Social media management and running marketing campaigns in general have never been easier.
AI-driven translation tools break down language barriers, enabling small businesses to reach a global audience, expand their market, and enhance customer engagement. Whether it's a feature of your AI writing assistant, or a tool of its own, with artificial intelligence tools you don't have to worry about not knowing the language.
AI optimizes pricing strategies, delivers personalized product recommendations, and enhances the online shopping experience. This leads to increased customer satisfaction and higher sales and eventually helps your business to grow.
As you can see, there are many options for AI to help you grow your business. I tested many of them and picked the top 6 tools that I think can be the most helpful depending on the different needs and stages of your business.
You can watch my video where I go through my list and show you how each tool works or read about the details below.
Looka is a great tool for creating brand identity. It generates a logo for your business and brand guidelines like color palette, and fonts that you can later use to to maintain a cohesive look of your business in all your visual communication.
What makes Looka really stand out and be one of the top AI tools is that it doesn't just create a logo and guidelines, but also lots of marketing and business assets that you can use. What I mean is that you get tens of branded social media post templates, email headers, business cards, or invoices that are aligned with your visual identity and ready to publish.
I was really impressed with the possibilities that Looka offers. Their solutions help small businesses build a brand of their own without having to worry about hiring a graphic designer and investing lots of resources in this long process.
Once you build a brand you need a website to establish your online presence and truly grow your business. WebWave is here to help you leverage digital forces.
WebWave is a website builder that is known for its ease of use and drag and drop interface. With no experience in web design, you can create a stunning website because you work as if you were using a graphic design tool like Canva.
Right now, WebWave is incorporating AI by introducing WebWave AI Writer (that you can use right now) and WebWave AI Website Builder (coming soon). These generative AI tools can help businesses build their online presence more easily than ever.
AI-powered writing feature allows you to generate content for your website with one click. You can generate headers, advertising slogans, or even entire blog posts that you can even optimize for SEO. In seconds you can have high-quality AI content that will fill your website with value.
Soon, with WebWave AI Website Builder you will be able to generate an entire website from a brief description. It's a truly mind-blowing feature designed to help businesses grow online.
Another tool on the list is Predis. It's an AI social media post and content generator. One of the things that I like the most about Predis is that it covers all the basics.
They offer multiple content formats - AI videos, reels, TikToks, carousel posts, you name it. Then There are multiple ways to generate it. It can be based on the text description that you can provide or an image. You can even add a link to a blog article that you already wrote and Predis will turn it into a social media post. It's very useful if you're into content recycling which is a very effective content marketing strategy.
And if you don't have content ideas, you can hop into their Idea Lab and generate ideas in a conversation with their easy-to-use AI chat. You can also run a competitor analysis to always stay at the head of the game.
Of course, then you can schedule all the posts that you created in Predis without the need to leave the app. It's a powerful AI tool that helps small businesses to streamline their social media operations.
Another tool that I shortlisted is Flowrite. It's an AI email writing assistant. It helps you write emails. Simple as that, but very useful.
Flowrite works both as a Chrome extension and as an independent app so that you can use it as you please.
It scans your emails so that it can easily adapt to the tone and context of a conversation that you have. You can use it to reply to emails or to write new ones.
Flowrite offers a rich library of email templates from business inquiries to link-building cold openers. Once you pick the right template, you get 3 message versions and can always write another iteration and specify what you would like to change. For example, make the email shorter, change the tone to more professional, or focus on different topics more.
It's a very agile tool, it's providing small businesses with a solid solution for struggles with email communication. No more staring at the blank page!
Mem is a simple tool that seems quite innocent until you start using it. It's a note-taking platform that uses AI for its advanced search features allowing businesses to stay organized.
Connect it with other software so you don't lose any notes and ideas. Create collections for your notes to make them even more well-organized. And then, when you need it, just type the words and Mem's algorithm will find the right note for you. Even if you don't write the exact keyword.
Mem is here to keep you productive. It's your personal AI assistant.
Sheet+ should be a friend of every business owner. It's an amazing tool for those who use Excel or Google Sheets.
Sometimes, you have to use a spreadsheet to calculate and analyze stuff, and Sheet+ is here for businesses to make data-driven decisions with ease.
It can write formulas for you based on the result you want to achieve. It can explain the formulas you don't understand and find errors in the ones that you wrote but they don't work. This tool can save you so much time and frustration. Small businesses can improve their business processes with it.
As you can see there are so many AI tools or tools with AI features. To pick the best one for you, you should deeply understand your business profile, and your strategy and identify areas where you might need some help from AI.
If you run any sort of marketing campaign, AI marketing tools are for you. You can not only use these tools to create content but also to create more targeted marketing campaigns.
If you work in a team (even a small one) or have many projects, you might look into management tools.
There are the right AI tools for almost every point. Before you make any decision, make sure that you go through all the features (if it's possible, use a free trial) and make a rational decision if you really need it. Look for the best money-to-value ratio and enjoy some help from AI.
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