Chris Dessi

Welcome to AI 101, where we break down what Artificial Intelligence is, why it’s important, and how you can start using it today. With nearly 30 years in tech, Chris Dessi shares his mission: to help you use technology to make more money. He’s closed over $100 million in sales, spoken to executives worldwide, and written books on the topic. Today, we’ll identify business bottlenecks, touch on marketing fundamentals, and equip you with an AI starter toolkit.

Many small business owners feel intimidated by AI, and that’s okay. It’s a new and rapidly evolving field. Chris himself is a student of AI, not an expert, but he’s skilled at using technology to boost sales and marketing efforts. He emphasizes that clinging to old ways of doing business isn’t an option anymore. As Joseph Campbell said, "We must be willing to let go of the life we’ve planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us."

What AI Really Is: More Than Just a Tool

AI is often seen as just a tool, like software. But AI agents are different because they learn. This is a critical distinction. You can educate AI agents about your business, allowing them to communicate with potential customers on your behalf. AI isn’t coming; it’s already here, integrated into our daily lives. While 91% of top companies use AI, small business owners now have a unique advantage: accessibility and affordability.

Key Takeaways

• AI agents learn, setting them apart from traditional software tools.
• Small business owners can now compete with larger enterprises due to AI accessibility.
• Understanding marketing fundamentals is key before implementing AI.
• AI can automate tasks, generate ideas, and improve customer interactions.
• Start by identifying business bottlenecks and then find AI solutions.

The Small Business Renaissance: Your AI Advantage

For years, large enterprises had the advantage with technology due to their resources. However, the current landscape, especially in the summer of 2025, marks a renaissance for small business owners. AI tools are now at your fingertips, inexpensive, and require only your effort to implement. You can truly "punch above your weight class" now. For example, a chatbot and voice bot can be implemented for as little as $99 a month.

Your Simple AI Formula

Implementing AI for your small business is straightforward:

1. Identify Bottlenecks: Spend a day listing all the things slowing down your sales, marketing, and communication. What keeps you up at night? What tasks take too much time?
2. Implement AI Solutions: Figure out how AI can fix these identified bottlenecks.

Common bottlenecks include writing content from scratch, repeating customer inquiries, and one person in the business holding all the knowledge. Many small business owners feel they have to do everything themselves, leading to overwhelm. AI can help fix this.

After implementing AI, you can expect benefits like:

• 80% more emails written by AI.
• Autogenerated social media posts.
• Pre-built content and lead magnets.
• Blog ideas generated in minutes.
• AI-guided content planning.

Marketing Fundamentals Before AI

Before diving into the tech, it’s vital to understand marketing basics. Marketing is about making someone take action – click, book, or buy. You need to focus on the outcome customers desire, not just the features of your product or service. Small business owners often get too attached to the creation process and forget what the customer truly wants.

Key marketing elements include:

• Attention: Use emotional hooks, not gimmicks.
• Audience: Deeply understand who you are marketing to. Create detailed customer avatars.
• Trust: Build trust through consistent, high-quality content.
• Emotion: Evoke emotion; your story is a powerful tool.
• Clarity: Be clear, not clever. Use simple language.

An example using Delve AI shows how to create detailed customer avatars based on analytics, which is a crucial first step.

Website Simplicity: The Hemingway Rule

For website content, aim for simplicity. Never have more than seven links in your top navigation. Write at an eighth-grade reading level. Ernest Hemingway’s "The Old Man and the Sea" was written at a fourth-grade level. Clarity and simplicity are difficult but essential for effective communication.

AI Use Cases for Every Business

Here are three scenarios to illustrate how AI can be applied:

1. Non-Tech Solopreneurs: Use AI to save time and generate ideas. Tools like ChatGPT can write email replies, FAQs, and bios. Opus Clip can turn long-form video into short, shareable clips for social media. Chatbots can handle customer inquiries 24/7, and AI can help create lead magnets quickly.
   • ChatGPT Prompt Framework: Position, Role, Outcome, Make it Simple, Provide Context, Test.
2. Businesses with Broken Funnels: AI can detect lead drop-off points, launch nurturing sequences, and connect chatbots to booking systems. AI can also help autogenerate and improve landing page copy for better conversion.
3. Small Marketing Teams: Boost output by building an internal custom GPT. This AI assistant can remember your brand’s tone and goals. AI can summarize analytics, generate headline variations, and repurpose content like webinars into various formats (blogs, emails, reels).

Building Your Custom GPT

Creating a custom GPT is like building your own personal AI assistant. You can name it, tell it what to do, and upload content (like PDFs) to train it. This custom GPT can then be shared with your team to ensure consistent output and tone.

Bonus Scenarios and Advanced Applications

• Stress-Testing Your Business: Use AI to identify potential weaknesses by asking it to list ways your business could fail.
• Competitor Analysis: Analyze competitor content and customer feedback to find gaps and opportunities.
• Dentist Website Audit Example: Implement chatbots and voice bots for scheduling and Q&A, automate content, and fix site flows.
• Validating Business Ideas: Use AI to identify problems your target audience faces, generate before-and-after transformations, and brainstorm AI-powered product ideas.
• Real Estate AI App Example: Turn real estate data into marketing insights by identifying patterns and informing marketing strategies.

Chris shares his own journey, including how he used technology to close $32 million in sales and how a single blog post earned him a $260,000 job offer. The key is to start with real people and core marketing principles, then use AI to speed up what already works.

Final Secrets and Encouragement

Remember these three closing secrets:

1. You’re in Control: It’s your business, your life. AI is rocket fuel; use it wisely.
2. Focus on Real People, Not Just Tools: Understand your audience and marketing fundamentals first.
3. Speed Up What Works: Use AI to enhance existing successful strategies.

Chris’s father’s last words, "Keep up the good work," serve as a reminder that running a small business is hard, but you’re not alone. Encourage others and keep pushing forward. Subscribe to Chris’s YouTube channel for more free content.