A rapidly increasing number of readers are emailing me, worried about the impact AI is having on their business, or the impact it will have.
Let’s see if I can help you turn this into an opportunity to grow your business. Or at least, eliminate/greatly reduce any negative impact on you.
I need to start by showing you how not to respond.
Don’t carry on as you are, relying on explaining to prospects that your work is better than AI. Annoyingly, that answer is correct. But it will fail the majority of the time. For at least 2 reasons.
- AI completes tasks in minutes and costs maybe 5% of a service provider’s fees. That 95% saving is extremely compelling.
- Most people are not experts in the services they buy from providers. They’d struggle to see the current flaws in AI’s output or even know when AI is screwing up.
How to win today and for years to come
My first idea should work extremely well for at least another 5-years. Then carry on working, albeit to a lesser degree, for another 5-years or more.
I want you to consider creating a version of your service, which is aimed at a specific group. I’m referring to people who are the least likely to want to use AI, and the most likely to value a human connection. Who? People aged 50 or over. Better still, those aged 60 or over.
Why?
Since the boom in AI use started, we’ve seen that the least engaged users are those over 50. And it drops considerably the higher the age is. A Pew Research Center survey published in June 2025 showed that the majority of people in the US aged 50 or over, use AI infrequently or not at all. That AI usage then drops considerably for those 65 or over. Note: The Pew data is based on ChatGPT usage as it’s the most commonly used AI in the US.
By marketing a version of your services, which speaks directly to those who are not looking for an AI alternative, you are:
- Putting the minds at rest, of all those people who long for a traditional service provider
- Providing your business with a very profitable niche market to serve
As AI becomes better, and daily users of AI get older, the door of this opportunity will slowly close.
However, by then, those service providers who benefit now, while the market is fertile, will have the time and money to adapt to whatever happens next.
Here’s another idea.
Change the playing field, so it’s easy for you to win
Here’s what we know: AI wins against small businesses, whose business model is based on charging for tasks that are automatable via AI. Not tasks that are well-automated by AI. Just automated.
The answer? Pick a strategy for your business, where you’re selling what AI can’t automate.
The word strategy is usually misused. For the best understanding of what a strategy is, I always refer people to the amazing Professor Roger Martin’s definition.
“Strategy is an integrated set of choices that positions you on a playing field of your choice, in a way that you can win.”
Picking your playing field
Here’s an example.
AI can write a resumé. It can prompt us for the details it needs, then quickly provide us with a resumé. If we notice any errors, it will strive to correct them. Boom. A resumé is created.
A playing field for a resumé writer to win on, would be based on some of the limitations and weaknesses of AI’s automation.
Here’s just one massive AI weakness.
Who pays for a professional resumé? Someone who wants to land a great job in a certain industry. And if they go to a resumé writer who specialises in that industry, they’ll get high-value, effective benefits. Specialist resumé writers not only know exactly what type of resumé is working best right now, they’ll also be deeply aware of what’s happening in that industry. Not based on the news or anything published online (which AI can access). But from their vast network of industry contacts. This can equip the resumé writer with advanced knowledge of openings at the type of companies or organisations, which their clients are interested in. They may even know the key attributes their client’s industry is most interested in hiring for right now.
So, if I’m a resumé writer, I’ll choose to focus on those AI weaknesses. Things AI can’t automate, which humans are fantastic at. This becomes the central thrust of my marketing.
In short
Stop telling people you’re better in your field than AI is. They lack expert knowledge of what someone in your industry does, so they have no idea if AI is creating a pile of junk.
Instead: Pick a playing field that AI can’t touch, but YOU can easily win on. That’s a position you can market very successfully from for the foreseeable future.
If AI services are negatively impacting your business, or if you can see it becoming a problem, consider one, or both of those ideas.