61 \\ The Human-First Content Formula: How to use AI for Small Business Without Losing Connection

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AI is a support tool. It's an
assistant. It's an efficiency

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layer. It is not going to save
your business. Not ChatGPT, not

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automation, not prompts, and not
templates.

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Tired of showing up online,
posting your heart out and still

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hearing crickets? Are you doing
all the right things but

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wondering why your content isn't
converting? Your DMs are dry and

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your audience isn't buying.
You're not alone, and this

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podcast is exactly for you.
Welcome to Social Media

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Marketing for Small Businesses,
where strategy meets soul and

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connection - well, that's the
secret sauce.

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Hi, I'm Cheyanne Cleyman. A
wife, proud mama of three,

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former actress and fitness
trainer turned serial

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entrepreneur and online
relationship expert. Over the

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last decade, I've built my own
brands, helped dozens of others

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grow theirs, and discovered one
powerful truth: connection is

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the real currency. If you're a
service-based business or

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high-ticket brand that wants
more leads, trust, and sales

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from social media without the
burnout or fake hype, you're in

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the right place. Each week I'm
bringing you short, powerful,

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impact episodes that feel like a
coffee date with a best friend

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and biz coach all in one. Let's
turn your followers into clients

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and content into connection.

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This is Social Media Marketing
for Small Businesses, and it's

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about to change how you show up
online. Let's dive in, boss.

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I want to start today by saying
something very clearly and very

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calmly. AI is not going to save
your business. Not ChatGPT, not

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automation, not prompts, and not
templates.

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And if that sentence makes you
feel a mix of maybe relief and

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panic at the same time, you're
not alone. I even kind of took a

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big gulp as I said it. Because
right now, a lot of small

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business owners feel this kind
of quiet pressure to keep up,

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right? To learn the tools, to
optimize everything, to automate

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more, more, more, to move faster
because we all feel like

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everyone else is doing it. And
underneath that pressure is this

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fear. If I don't figure this
out, am I going to get left

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behind? If I don't figure this
out, will my business still

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exist in a few years?

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So, this is a very real fear,
and I'm not considering it

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lightly. So today, I want to
slow this conversation down.

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We're going to talk about what
AI is actually good for, what it

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absolutely can replace, and what
it absolutely cannot replace.

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And what will actually move your
business forward in this next

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season. And I promise you, this
is not an anti-AI episode. In

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fact, some AI was used in the
production of this episode.

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This is what I want to call a
clarity episode. How to use AI

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and how to make sure AI doesn't
replace you. Before we get

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there, I want to tell you a
quick story. Not long ago, I had

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a conversation with a business
owner who said something like

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this to me: "I feel like I'm
behind because everyone else

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seems to be using AI better than
I am." And quite honestly, this

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woman wasn't really using any AI
because she had a bit of

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analysis paralysis. She didn't
know how to use it best in her

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business. And this business
owner is a coach. So, she feels

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really connected to her audience
and the people she helps, and

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yet she knows that AI must have
a reason to be used in her

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business.

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Now, she wasn't lazy. She wasn't
resistant to learning. She

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wasn't anti-tech either. She was
just overwhelmed. She didn't

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really know where to implement
AI. She had downloaded a ton of

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tools. She'd saved prompts,
watched a ton of Reels, and

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listened to podcasts like this
one. But instead of feeling

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empowered, she ended up feeling
very disconnected from her own

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business, from her own strategy.
Her content didn't really sound

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like her. Her marketing started
to feel really hollow because

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she was actually talking to
people less. And she was

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producing more, but she was
converting less.

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And that's when I realized
something very important. We're

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not in an AI education gap.
We're in a strategy gap. Because

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AI without intention doesn't
create growth. It just creates

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noise. And the biggest noise is
going to be in your head and in

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your heart. So, let's first
start this episode by diving

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into what is AI actually good
for? Let's get grounded.

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Hey, have you ever wanted to
start a podcast? Or perhaps you

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have one and you'd like to see
it start growing? Well, you

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gotta check out Juliana Barbati
and her team. They have got you

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covered head to toe. I mean it.
They handle the entire process.

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Everything from building episode
funnels to production and

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marketing. So you can just focus
on reaching your audience and

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enjoying what you do. How do I
know? They work for this very

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podcast. Go ahead and visit
julianabarbati.com and let them

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know I sent you. Go ahead and
check out the show notes below,

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I've also put their link there.

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AI is really incredible at
certain things, right? Like, it

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can really help you organize
ideas, outline content,

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repurpose what you've already
said, clean up your language,

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maybe speed up execution. That's
real value. That gives you your

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time back. Maybe even give you
your sanity back. But AI is a

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support tool, right? It's an
assistant. It's an efficiency

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layer on your business. What
it's not is - it's not a

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strategy. Or it shouldn't
replace your strategy. It's not

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your voice, and it's not a
relationship builder.

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AI does not know your audience
like you do. It doesn't

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understand like the nuances
behind, you know, conversation.

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It does not feel emotional
weight. It does not read the

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room like only we as humans can.
And most importantly, AI does

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not build trust. Only you can do
that, right? So, here's the line

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I want you to remember. If we
think about like a line, like

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we're not going to cross this
line. So, I want you to

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remember: AI can support your
thinking, but it cannot replace

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it. I'm going to repeat that one
again.

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AI can support your thinking,
but it cannot replace it. The

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moment AI becomes the voice of
your business instead of the

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support of your clarity, your
audience is going to feel it.

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And you're going to feel it too.
Your audience might not be able

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to articulate it, but they're
going to feel that emotional

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distance all of a sudden, right?
Maybe they're going to stop

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replying. Maybe they're going to
stop DMing. They're going to

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stop leaning in, and you could
actually lose people. Because

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people don't buy because content
is optimized.

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They buy because they finally
feel understood. They buy

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because they trust the human on
the other side of the screen.

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And this is where everything
connects for you, especially if

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you're a business person, right?
You're a business owner. And

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sales don't happen in content.
Maybe good content, like a brick

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and mortar store window, pulls
people in, pulls people to you.

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But the sales don't happen
there. They happen in the store,

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right?

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So, I would say sales happen in
conversation. Content opens the

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door, but conversation - people
engaging with you in the

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conversation - closes the gap.
Now, AI can help you. It can

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help you show up more
consistently. But consistency

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without connection - it doesn't
convert. It's otherwise just a

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bunch of posts. It's just a
bunch of noise. If AI helps you

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create more posts, but you don't
have a system for conversation,

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then what are you doing? All
you're doing is scaling

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visibility without scaling
trust. And if you want to make

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conversions, if you want to
sell, you have to do both at the

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same time.

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And that's why there's so many
people, so many business owners

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out there feel like, "I'm doing
more, but it's not working. I'm

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not getting the results that I
want."

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So, what is the real solution
here, right? That's why you

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clicked on this episode. Well,
what I want to share with you is

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that it's going to be all
pointing back to human-first

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systems. The businesses that are
growing right now are doing

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something very specific. They're
not replacing humans with AI.

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They're removing friction so
humans can connect more easily,

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right? That's where you want to
use AI. They use AI to reduce

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the overwhelm, to save time,
support clarity, but they rely

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still - like conversation is the
common currency of humankind,

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right? It has been since the
very beginning.

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These businesses, they rely on
conversation-based systems to,

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say, nurture those
relationships, follow up

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consistently, and move people
from that initial interest in

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your brand or in your business
or your offers to decision. AI

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basically, if you want to think
about it, removes the friction.

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Conversation is what creates
your clients. And if you don't

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have a system for conversation,
no tool is going to fix that.

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And you're going to find
yourself just back where you

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started - doing a lot of things
but making no conversions.

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And this is exactly why I
created my signature training.

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It's brand new, just dropping to
the market. It's called

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Conversations That Convert.
That's right. Not content. It's

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about the conversations. Because
selling doesn't need to feel

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pushy. It doesn't need scripts.
It doesn't need pressure. Inside

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Conversations That Convert, I
teach you how to turn visibility

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into real conversations. I show
you how to set yourself up, your

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social media up for success.
Have it be like that walking

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billboard for you to draw people
in. But then, what do you do

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then? I help you follow up
without being awkward, without

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feeling salesy.

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Now, before I close off this
episode, you know that I always

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love to give you an action step.
Something you can take away from

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every episode and get to work in
your business right away. I want

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you to choose one AI tool.
Either one you're using right

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now or one you've been curious
about, and do a little bit of

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research on it this week and ask
yourself some questions. Like,

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"What is this actually going to
do for me? How is it going to

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help my business? Is it going to
reduce overwhelm? Is it going to

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save me time? Is it going to
support clarity?" That is a tool

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I want you to keep. Now, if it
tries to start replacing you or

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if it's taking you too much out
of your business, especially out

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of the conversational part with
your ideal clients, then that's

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one I would say you need to
pivot.

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Before we leave today, I want to
leave you with this. AI will not

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save your business. But, please
dive in to other episodes. I

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have so much to offer you, and
every single episode has a

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actionable, tactical step that's
very simple that you can put

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into action right away at the
end of this episode. And be sure

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to share it with another
business owner friend because

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the time is now. It's time to
grow. It's time to thrive in

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your business. And I cannot wait
to see you in the next episode.

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All right, my friend. That's it
for today. But let me leave you

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with this. If your content's not
converting, it's not your fault.

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Chances are you've been taught
to prioritize the algorithm

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instead of the actual humans
reading your words. And that -

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that ends right here. Go ahead
and grab my free guide: Five

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Quiet Reasons Your Content Isn't
Converting and What to Do

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Instead. It's packed with real
talk, practical shifts, and

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quick immediate wins. Link is in
the show notes below. And if

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you're ready to stop guessing
and start connecting with ideal

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clients who actually buy from
you, book a free connection call

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with our team at Kuleana
Connect. We don't do content. We

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do connection that converts.
Because at the end of the day,

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it's not about going viral. It's
about being valuable. Thanks for

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hanging out with me. Again, I'm
Cheyanne Cleyman, and I'll see

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you on next week's episode. See
you later, boss.