From Overwhelmed to AI-Enabled: Practical Marketing Wins for Small Businesses

Hosted by the Illinois Small Business Development Center at the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce

Small business owners are hearing the same thing over and over: “You need to use AI to grow.” But what no one tells you is how to do it without a tech team, budget blowout, or wasting time on tools that don’t deliver.

In this hands-on session led by Susan and Scot Westwater, co-authors of Voice Strategy and Voice Marketing and founders of Pragmatic Digital, you’ll learn how to actually use AI to get more visibility, attract the right customers, and reduce your marketing workload.

This isn’t a theory session or tech hype demo. You’ll walk away with:

A clear understanding of what AI can and can’t do for your business right now
Real-world examples of small business marketing tasks made faster and better with AI
A simple framework to choose the right tools for YOUR marketing goals

Whether you’re just getting started or trying to get more value from tools like ChatGPT, Canva, or ZoomInfo, this session will help you cut through the noise and make AI work for your business.