AI in Action: A Hands-On Workshop for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses

Join us in person to practice using AI tools to identify and understand your customer, research your market, and build your brand. Join UW-Madison Extension Specialists and Educators for a highly interactive, hands-on workshop designed for entrepreneurs, small business owners, and solopreneurs who want practical ways to use AI to grow their business. This is not a lecture about AI. You'll work directly on your own business and learn how to use today's leading AI tools to better understand your customers, research your market, strengthen your brand, and create marketing content. Participants will actively use AI tools for market research, customer feedback analysis, brand development, and content creation in this practical, hands-on workshop. Location: Summit Place, Room 2135 (First Floor). Parking: Free but you must check in with security in lobby. Bring: Your laptop and make sure you have an account with an AI tool such as ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, or Claude. Optional to bring: Your last 20 (minimum) customer reviews; your last 10 inbound inquiry emails with names removed, and notes from any deal you lost in the past year. The workshop runs fine without your own business data, but if you bring your own data you will get personalized results. Either way - you'll learn the process, and how to analyze your customer feedback. We will provide sample data for you to use in the workshop. What You'll Learn • Use AI to better understand your customers and target audience • Conduct market research using free and publicly available data sources, using AI tools • Analyze customer reviews and feedback to uncover trends and opportunities • Identify customer pain points and unmet needs • Build and strengthen your brand using AI-assisted strategies • Create marketing content that reflects your unique voice and business • Learn practical prompting techniques that improve AI results • Understand common AI risks, limitations, and best practices • Develop a workflow you can continue using long after the workshop ends What You'll Leave With • Actionable market research insights • Customer feedback analysis techniques • Brand development strategies • Marketing content and ideas tailored to your business • AI prompt templates and resources • Greater confidence using AI tools in your day-to-day operations Who Should Attend? • Entrepreneurs • Small business owners • Solopreneurs • Startup founders • Side-hustle owners • Anyone interested in using AI to support business growth For more information or questions about this workshop, contact: Prasanta at [email protected] Community Development Educator, UW-Madison Division of Extension. Thank you to the City of West Allis for sponsorship of the workshop.