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Welcome to the sixth episode of Brand Up your Business podcast, the podcast that helps entrepreneurs, small business owners and side hustlers build brands that actually get customers.
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I'm Matt Jackson, aka Matt the Driveway Guy, pressure-washing business owner, branding geek and guy who's made more business mistakes than I care to admit.
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And I'm Olivia Carter, founder of Clean Slate Cleaning, a janitorial company out of Phoenix, arizona, and believe me when I say I have made every branding mistake in the book.
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If there was an award for most confusing business brand back in my early days, I'd have won it.
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I started my cleaning business from the ground up and learned firsthand how branding makes all the difference.
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If customers don't trust your brand, they won't buy from you.
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Exactly, and today we're breaking down the three biggest branding mistakes that are costing business owners customers and, more importantly, how to fix them.
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Today we're getting real about the branding mistakes that nearly tanked our businesses and the lessons we learned that helped us turn things around.
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So if you've ever wondered why customers aren't choosing you over the competition, stick around.
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This episode is for you.
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If you're out here grinding but people still aren't choosing you, you will find out shortly.
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Let's get into it.
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All right, quick question have you ever had a customer say oh, I didn't even know you offered that, even though it was literally on your website, your flyers and your social media?
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Oh yeah, been there.
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I once had a longtime client ask me if we cleaned office carpets.
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Uh, it's in the name buddy Clean slate cleaning.
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What did you think we did?
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Sell ice cream.
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All right, Real talk.
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When was the last time you bought something from a brand that looked sketchy, outdated or just plain forgettable?
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Yeah, never.
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People buy from brands they know, like and trust, and if your branding isn't pulling people in, you're leaving money on the table.
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See that right.
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There is a branding problem, and it's one I struggled with too Early on my pressure washing brand was all over the place.
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I had like five different versions of my logo, no clear message, and my social media looked like it was run by three different people who had never met.
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Same.
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My branding was so generic that people would call and ask if we were a franchise.
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I mean I wish, but no, just me and my $5 Canva logo trying to make a name for myself.
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Mistake number one blending in.
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Oof.
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This one hurts your brand.
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Looks like everyone else's.
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If your business blends in with the competition, customers won't remember you.
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And if they don't remember you, well, they're not buying from you.
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When I started Clean Slate Cleaning, I went with the classic blue and white logo.
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Why?
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Because I Googled janitorial logos and copied whatever popped up first.
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Brilliant strategy, right.
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Oh yeah, I totally get that.
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My first pressure washing logo.
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A basic pressure washer gun, spraying water in a circle, you know, like every other pressure washing company ever I see this all the time Service businesses with the same stock logo, generic fonts and zero personality.
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If I scroll through Instagram and your brand looks just like five other competitors, why should I choose you?
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And I get it.
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When I started my cleaning business, I played it safe.
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My branding was neutral, my messaging was vague and I just looked like every other cleaning company out there.
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The moment I changed my colors, my tagline and added a real personality to my brand boom more leads, more customers and more repeat business.
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That's it.
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Here's how to fix this mistake.
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Find what makes you unique.
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What's one thing that sets you apart?
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A special service, what's one thing that sets you apart?
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A special service, a guarantee, a unique experience.
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Make your branding visually pop.
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A bold color, a signature font, something that makes you instantly recognizable.
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Own your brand voice.
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If you're funny, be funny.
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If you're luxury, be luxury, but don't be generic.
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Remember blending in is a death sentence for your brand.
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Make it stand out.
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So how did we fix it?
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First, I ditched the boring colors and went bold.
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I switched to an eye-catching green and black theme, added a slogan that actually made sense A cleaner office, a clearer mind.
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And suddenly people started remembering us.
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For me it was owning my personality.
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I stopped trying to look like every other pressure washing company and leaned into me.
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My branding got fun, a little edgy and, most importantly, memorable.
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Mistake number two confusing messaging.
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This one is huge.
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If your brand messaging is confusing, you're losing customers.
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Olivia, tell me if this sounds familiar Early on.
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If someone asked hey, what does your company do?
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Did you accidentally give them a TED talk instead of a simple answer?
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Ever landed on a website and thought wait, what do they actually do?
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Yeah, same, and you know what I do next.
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I click away, because if I don't get it in five seconds or less, I'm out.
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Oh yeah, I'd be like well.
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We provide innovative janitorial solutions for corporate offices, maintaining cleanliness and productivity through eco-friendly methods and customized schedules tailored to geez.
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Boring, confusing, instant regret.
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Here's the fix.
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Who do you help?
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What problem do you solve?
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Why should they choose you?
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Okay, let's put this in action.
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I'll give you a bad example.
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First, we provide innovative home maintenance solutions tailored for optimal cleaning and sanitization.
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What does that even mean?
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Sounds like a corporate robot wrote it.
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Exactly Now.
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Here's the fix we help busy homeowners keep their houses spotless without lifting a finger.
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Boom.
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It's clear, it's direct and it tells my customers exactly what I do.
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If you can't explain your business in one sentence, it's too complicated.
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Mistake number three inconsistency.
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Oh man, I was guilty of this one early on.
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Brand inconsistency kills trust.
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If your website says one thing, your social media says another and your emails feel like they're from a different company, customers will not trust you.
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That's because inconsistency makes people doubt your professionalism.
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Imagine you see an ad for a luxury spa, but when you visit, the place looks run down.
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You'd feel scammed, right.
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Exactly.
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If your branding is all over the place, customers won't feel confident giving you their money.
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Here's how to fix it.
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Use the same colors, fonts and messaging everywhere.
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Keep it tight and consistent.
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Post regularly.
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You can't post once a month and expect people to remember you.
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Deliver the same experience everywhere, whether it's email, social media or in person.
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Your brand should feel the same everywhere.
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Consistency builds trust, and trust that equals sales.
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All right, let's hit the recap.
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Mistake number one blending in.
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Fix it by making your brand unique.
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Mistake number two confusing messaging.
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Fix it by making your brand unique.
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Mistake number two confusing messaging.
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Fix it by keeping it clear and simple.
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Mistake number three inconsistency.
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Fix it by keeping your branding aligned everywhere.
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Action step pick one mistake and fix it this week.
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And if you want more help, check out Matt's brand breakthrough course.
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It's a seven-day step-by-step guide to building a brand that actually gets customers.
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Links in the show notes.
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Let's talk about a crazy hack.
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You and me have learned this past year or so Artificial intelligence.
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The rise of AI, marketing tools has created something unprecedented Small businesses now wield the same marketing firepower as companies 100 times their size, and it's completely transforming how entrepreneurs compete.
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That's such a fascinating shift in the landscape.
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Just a few years ago, effective marketing meant either having a massive budget or working yourself to exhaustion, trying to do everything manually.
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Let me share something surprising.
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Studies show that small businesses using AI marketing tools are seeing an average 40% reduction in their marketing time investment, while achieving up to three times better engagement rates.
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Those numbers are incredible, especially when you consider how much small business owners used to struggle just to maintain a basic online presence.
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The really interesting part is how these AI tools are becoming more sophisticated in understanding industry-specific contexts.
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They're not just generating generic content anymore.
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They're actually learning the nuances of different business sectors.
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You know what amazes me most about that the way these tools can analyze thousands of successful posts in your industry and identify exactly what resonates with different audience segments.
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Speaking of audience engagement, let's talk about something that's often overlooked the psychological impact of consistent brand presence.
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Ai tools are helping small businesses maintain the kind of posting frequency that used to require a full marketing team.
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That consistency factor is huge.
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I've seen businesses go from posting maybe once a week to maintaining daily engagement with their audience, and the difference in customer loyalty is remarkable.
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Here's a fascinating statistic Businesses using AI-powered content generation tools are producing five times more content, while spending 75% less time on creation.
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That's a complete revolution in marketing efficiency.
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Hmm, that makes me wonder about the quality aspect.
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How are these AI-generated materials performing compared to traditionally created content?
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Well, recent studies show that AI-assisted content is actually achieving 20% higher engagement rates than purely human-created content, primarily because it can be optimized in real-time based on performance data.
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That's incredible and it really challenges the assumption that AI-generated content would somehow feel less authentic or engaging.
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Let's dive into something even more revolutionary the way AI is transforming video marketing.
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The latest tools can now analyze your brand, voice, color scheme and previous content to automatically generate video content that feels completely authentic to your brand.
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The accessibility factor.
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There is huge Video production used to be this massive barrier for small businesses, both in terms of cost and technical expertise.
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The numbers back that up.
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Small businesses using AI video tools are seeing a 300% increase in video content production, while reducing their production costs by up to 80%.
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That kind of efficiency gain is transformative for small business owners, who are already stretched thin, trying to manage every aspect of their operations.
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Let's talk about customer service automation, because this is where AI is really showing its potential.
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The latest chatbots can handle up to 80% of routine customer inquiries without human intervention, while maintaining a 94% satisfaction rate.
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Those numbers are mind-blowing when you consider how skeptical people were about automated customer service just a few years ago.
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And here's what's really interesting these AI systems are now capable of detecting customer sentiment with 85% accuracy, allowing them to prioritize and escalate issues that require human attention.
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The way these tools handle complex scheduling and follow-up sequences has completely transformed how small businesses manage their customer relationships.
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Let me share something fascinating about email marketing automation.
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Ai-powered systems are now achieving open rates 50% higher than traditional email campaigns by analyzing optimal sending times and personalizing content for each recipient.
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That level of personalization used to be impossible for small businesses.
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Now it's becoming the standard expectation from customers.
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Looking ahead, experts predict that by 2025, about 95% of customer interactions will be handled by ASI in some capacity.
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That's going to fundamentally change how small businesses operate.
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So what does that mean for the future of small business marketing?
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Are we looking at a completely automated landscape?
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Not exactly.
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What we're seeing is a shift toward what's being called augmented marketing, where AI handles the routine tasks while humans focus on strategy and creative direction.
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It's about enhancing human capabilities, not replacing them.
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That makes so much sense, especially for small business owners, who need to maintain that personal touch while scaling their operations.
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The key takeaway here is that AI marketing tools aren't just making things easier.
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They're fundamentally changing what's possible for small businesses.
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They're democratizing access to sophisticated marketing capabilities that used to be exclusive to large corporations.
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You know what's really exciting about all this?
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We're still just at the beginning of what these tools can do.
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The potential for small business growth is enormous.
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Looking forward.
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The businesses that will thrive are those that find the right balance between leveraging AI capabilities while maintaining their unique brand voice and personal connection with customers.
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That's exactly right.
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It's not about replacing the human element.
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It's about using technology to amplify what makes each business special and unique.
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All right.
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Last thing we got to hit before we wrap this up, olivia just dropped some straight fire on this episode.
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We broke down the must-do branding hacks, how AI is changing the game and next level customer acquisition moves for 2025.
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If you're not applying this stuff, you're already behind.
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So here's the play.
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If you got value from this convo, drop a comment, let us know your biggest takeaway and hit that share button.
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That's how we keep this thing growing and bringing you more game.
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Oh, and don't forget, subscribe so you don't miss the next one.
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We're just getting started.
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Make sure to check out Matt's book on Amazon Brand Up your Business.
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I think as we speak it now in the end of February, it has about 15 reviews.
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Check it out and leave a review and share it with your friends.
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He is building a cool community with this channel and has helped me for years with sharing what has worked in his small business.
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Thanks again, Olivia.
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Glad to have you on the show.
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Look forward to seeing you continue to brand up in 2025.
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You.
