Keynote · 2026 Sunrise Business Summit
Get More Customers With Social Media + AI
A practical growth playbook for small businesses, presented to Sunrise business owners.
At the 2026 Sunrise Business Summit, more than a hundred local business owners registered to hear one question answered: how does a small business turn social media and AI into actual customers? This page collects the full slide deck, photos from the room and the ideas worth putting to work this month.
The short version: stop chasing followers, get found where customers already look, show the people behind the business, capture the customers you earn and follow up with them. AI makes each step faster, but it can't fix a message that isn't clear.
The deck
Every slide from the talk
Want to keep it? Download the slides as a PDF (6.6 MB).
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The framework
The Small Business Growth System
- 01
Attention
Get seen by the right people, consistently.
- 02
Trust
Reviews, real faces and proof make the decision easy.
- 03
Capture
Turn interest into a name, email or phone number you own.
- 04
Follow-up
Most sales happen after the first conversation.
- 05
Sale
Make it simple to say yes.
- 06
Repeat
Stay in touch so customers come back.
- 07
Referral
Happy customers bring the next ones.
Put it to work
9 takeaways for local business owners
You don’t need more followers. You need more customers.
Measure calls, bookings, customers, sales and repeat business, not likes and impressions. Attention only matters when it turns into action.
Before they follow you, they Google you.
For most local businesses, the Google Business Profile is the real homepage. Keep reviews, photos, hours, services and your website current.
People don’t connect with logos. They connect with people.
Show who is behind the business: why you started, what you believe, how you work. Personal doesn’t mean private.
You’re already surrounded by content.
Customer questions, jobs you finished, before-and-afters, testimonials, events, your team and behind the scenes are all content you already have.
Your customers are your best salespeople.
Ask for the review, make it easy to leave one, respond to every review, and reuse that proof everywhere.
Followers are rented. Customer data is owned.
Platforms give you reach. A list with names, emails, phone numbers and purchase history gives you an asset.
You probably don’t need more leads.
Follow up with the inquiries, estimates, old customers and abandoned conversations you already have.
Don’t make customers rediscover you.
Purchase, thank you, reminder, offer, return. Email and text keep the relationship alive between visits.
AI removes the blank page. It doesn’t replace the work.
A bad message times AI is more bad marketing. Start with a customer, a problem, an offer and a reason to choose you, then let AI speed you up.
Tools don't create growth. Systems do. See the full toolkit
A small business AI stack
- 01Think
- ChatGPT, Claude
- 02Create
- Canva, Adobe Express
- 03Get found
- Google Business Profile
- 04Follow up
- Kit, Flodesk
- 05Sell
- Square, Shopify
- 06Build
- Lovable, Replit
Use AI throughout all four weeks
Your next 30 days
- Week 1
Get found
Claim or update your Google Business Profile, add photos and ask for reviews.
- Week 2
Build trust
Post real customer proof and show the people behind the business.
- Week 3
Build your list
Collect emails and phone numbers with a simple offer or sign-up.
- Week 4
Follow up
Send a reminder or offer to past customers and open conversations.
The Daily 15: five minutes listening, five minutes engaging, five minutes following up. And ask every customer: “How did you hear about us?”
In the room
Photos from the 2026 Sunrise Business Summit
About the speaker
Carlos Gil
Carlos Gil is an author, speaker and marketer who has been building on the internet since 1995. He wrote The End of Marketing and has worked on marketing teams at LinkedIn, BMC Software, Winn-Dixie and Save-A-Lot. He founded this directory to give Sunrise businesses a free place to be found.
Step one: get found
Put your business where Sunrise is looking.
List your business free, or claim the listing we already started for you.