Hey Outlaws, you know that feeling when you’re late to a get together, you walk in, and everyone’s already there? Yeah, that’s how AI feels for a lot of small businesses right now. But instead of turning around and leaving, we’re strapping up our boots, sitting at the table, and owning the night. Welcome to the front row pass.
💡AI Use Case of the Week
Redesign the workflow not just automate it.
A recent piece by Forbes Business Council argues that successful companies aren't plopping AI tools on top of old processes. They’re rebuilding how the work gets done around AI and human collaboration.
What this means for you: If you are still using AI do your old tasks faster, you’re missing the shift. Instead, pick a core workflow (like customer onboarding, service, delivery, or inventory check) and ask: “How do I redesign this so AI handles the pattern, the human handles the insight?”
This week’s mission: Choose one workflow, sketch the hand-off (Human ⇄ AI), test it small, measure the time saved or error reduced. Then decide: Scale or scrap.
AI is the engine, your human insight must still steer.
‼️Quick Prompt of the Week
“You are a seasoned [your-industry] consultant. Write a first draft proposal for [type of client] in [your niche] needing [problem needing solved]. Use the tone of [your brand here], include three key outcomes, and one optional upsell. Leave placeholders for the clients name, date, and price.”
Run this free prompt into ChatGPT (or equivalent), then swap your placeholders, tweak the voice, inject your story, and hit send.
📝 AI in the News
Congress is moving
The AI for Main Street Act has been introduced to help small businesses integrate AI via the Small Business Administration’s support centres.
Read more here 👉 Alford, Scholten Introduce Bipartisan AI for Main Street Act
Outlaw’s POV: When the government starts showing up for Main Street, you take note. Free or low-cost training? Guidance? Probably worth your time.
Big tech’s launching enterprise-grade tools
Google’s “Gemini Enterprise” platform drops, letting businesses talk to their data, docs, and apps with AI power.
Outlaw’s POV: This “enterprise only” stuff can becomes “SMB friendly” tomorrow. Stay aware, get ready, and don’t get left buying leftovers.
⭐️Reader Spotlight
In last weeks issue, we talked a lot about AI terminology. It can easily turn into alphabet soup if you let it. Lucky for you, we are here to help! Based off some replies we got last week, there is still some terms that have some heads in scrambles. Let’s re-run it a little bit. In one sentence:
AI is the big idea.
Machine learning is how it learns.
Neural networks and deep learning are the tech behind it.
LLMs like ChatGPT use prompts and training data to create responses.
Automation and generative AI are how you use it.
And ethics is how you do it responsibly.
We got the most responses saying that large language model (LLM), machine learning (ML), and generative AI were the most misunderstood AI terms. Let’s dive into those 3 some more and tie them into how you might use or experience them as a small business owner.
Large Language model (LLM)🧠
It’s not a “smart robot” that understands you. It’s a pattern machine that is trained on the oceans of text. When you type a question, it predicts what words come next. Kind of like a super powered autocomplete that’s read the entire internet.
Why it matters:
When you ask ChatGPT or Gemini to write a proposal or email, it’s not thinking, its guessing well. That’s why your prompt matters more than the tools itself. The clearer your direction, the sharper the output.
Machine learning (ML)🤖
Machine learning isn’t magic, it’s math that finds patterns in data and makes predictions. You give it examples (“this is a happy customer review, this is an angry one”) and it learns how to spot the patterns.
Why it matters:
Your email platform predicting open rates? That’s ML.
Your ad dashboard deciding who sees your next campaign? ML again.
You’re already using machine learning every day. The win comes when you understand it and start feeding it better data.
Generative AI🧩
This is the creative side of AI. It generates new stuff. Text, images, music, video. All based on what its learned from training data. But don’t let the word creative fool you. It’s remixing patterns, not having original ideas.
Why it matters:
Generative AI is the engine behind tools like ChatGPT, Midjourney, and Runway. The trick isn’t to let it “create it for you,” but to make it your idea accelerator. You bring the story, strategy, and the spark. AI brings the speed.
💬 Call to Action
We’re the small business misfits using AI to punch above our weight and rewrite the rules. Reply and tell me how you found us and how you are breaking the system. We might showcase you and your story in next week’s Edge.
Now Get Out There and Market Like an Outlaw
Want more bold marketing ideas like this?
🔥 Check out Outlaw’s Biz Guide — our no-fluff blog packed with real-talk marketing tips for small-town rebels → outlawmarketing.net/blog
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⚡ Stay Sharp, Stay Outlaw.
That’s it for this ride, renegades. You’ve just caught The Edge—where marketing plays by no rules but ours. Keep your inbox close, your coffee closer, and remember: fortune favors the bold (and the slightly rebellious).
Until next time—stay loud, stay proud, and stay a little bit outlaw. 🤘🔥