I Have to Figure This Sh*t Out
Jaci Russo explains how she built an AI tool that delivers 10 fresh, fully vetted prospects to her inbox every morning. Two of those leads have already turned into clients.
Here are today’s highlights:
There’s a full-fledged Gold Rush for construction workers, thanks to a confluence of trends.
A new state law in New York takes aim at what has become known as surveillance pricing.
A survey shows that most older business owners remain ill-prepared to sell their businesses.
In our latest Dashboard podcast, Rob Levin says finding employees can be tougher than finding customers.
THE 21 HATS PODCAST
Liz Picarazzi and Jaci Russo compare notes with Ted Wolf on their journeys to integrate generative AI into their businesses: For Liz, it’s been frustrating. She resisted AI at first—but while she’s ready to go now, her COO, who also happens to be her husband, still isn’t there. That’s one reason Liz says she feels as though she’s been spinning her wheels. Jaci jumped in more than two years ago, took every course she could find, and now has custom GPTs talking to custom GPTs talking to custom GPTs. The AI tool she built delivers 10 fresh, fully vetted prospects to her inbox every morning. “It will find the person in charge of marketing,” she says. “It will find their LinkedIn profile. It will find the company website. It will find their competitors.” And it has already produced two new clients.
Plus: As this especially challenging year winds down, Liz, Jaci, and Ted reflect on where their businesses hit expectations and where they fell short. Jaci notes a sales hire that failed. “I would have liked to have not spent the money on that person and had this epiphany without the pain,” she says, “but I think those two things just go hand in hand.” Liz cites her $400,000 tariff bill: “It really hurts, and it makes me angry,” she tells us. “But in terms of revenue, we’re doing well, I gotta admit. Thank God for New York City rats and trash.”
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