{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"AI an important tool for small business marketing, but it can\u2019t replace relationships and trust","description":"On today\u2019s program, Michael Rogers talks with SBAM leader Chip LaFleur, CEO of Lafleur Marketing in Grand Rapids. He discusses the company's transition from a traditional marketing firm to a growth insights agency and highlights the challenges small businesses face due to economic uncertainty and rapid technological changes, particularly AI, which has both expedited and complicated marketing strategies. \u201cYou have to build a relationship to establish trust,\u201d he says. \u201cYou have to have the trust before you start sharing ideas around how to make your business successful, how to grow your organization, and things like that. AI can, in some ways, help us to capture ideas, and sometimes those ideas inform the relationships a little bit, but it's still a tool in the toolbox.\u201d The Small Business Association of Michigan is the only statewide and state-based association that focuses solely on serving the needs of Michigan\u2019s small business community. We have been successfully serving small businesses like yours in all 83 counties of Michigan since 1969. We\u2019re located in Lansing, just one block from the Capitol. Our mission is to help Michigan small businesses succeed by promoting entrepreneurship, leveraging buying power and engaging in political advocacy. When small businesses band together through the Small Business Association of Michigan, they achieve more than they could on their own.  Our 32,000 members are as diverse as Michigan's economy. From accountants to appliance stores, manufacturers to medical, and restaurants to retailers, what unites the SBAM membership is the spirit of entrepreneurship\u2026a spirit that drove you to start and continue to operate your own business because you believe you can do something better than anyone else is doing it! (music licensed from www.jukedeck.com) ","author_name":"The Small Business Association of Michigan\u2019s Small Business Weekly Podcast","author_url":"http:\/\/www.sbam.org","html":"